Since moving to a new home, with my new husband, I’ve declared war on the invasive iceplant covering a hillside all along the property. This mounding succulent (Carpobrotus edulis) has spread aggressively across the Californian coast, choking out native vegetation and disrupting the composition of the soil. Native to South Africa, it was brought to the Golden State in the early 1900s to stabilize soil alongside railroad tracks and later highways.
Atlantic Mole Crabs are harmless creatures that are uniquely adapted to live in a relentless environment of constant movement and changing tides.
A recent petition, led by The Center for Biological Diversity with 22 partner organizations, seeks to list the Atlantic horseshoe crab as an endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ Endangered Species Act. According to an article published on February 14, the petitioners state that horseshoe crab populations have crashed in recent decades due to overharvesting and habitat loss, putting them in danger of extinction across a significant portion of their region as threats are likely to persist. This sentiment is echoed by A Rocha’s Conservation Project team in Florida as they contribute to research on horseshoe crabs. In their interactive StoryMap “Crawling through Spacetime,” our team outlines present threats to the Atlantic horseshoe crab, including the detrimental impact of beach development on their habitat and overharvesting for use as bait or in medical testing. For more information on the Atlantic horseshoe crab, you can check out our Creature Feature. You can support our horseshoe crab research and other marine conservation efforts
Wild Wonder helps children learn and wonder about God and nature, get outside, and spark their imaginations as they explore God’s good creation. Created by A Rocha USA, Wild Wonder is a Vacation Bible School (VBS) style curriculum designed for children aged 4-10. Each year in the four-year curriculum includes five days of songs and devotions, science and nature lessons, guided play, and exploration. Campers sing in worship, hear what the Bible says about God and creation, and take a daily Nature Break to listen to the world around them. They also study creation through hands-on science experiments, observation, and conservation activities. Additional crafts and games help campers experience the joy of getting to know creation and the loving God who made it all. With a curriculum rooted in Psalm 104, children are invited to delight in God as creator, redeemer, and sustainer of all things. For more information on Wild Wonder, we invite you to check out A Rocha
For the first time at a UN Climate Conference, the burning of fossil fuels was officially acknowledged as the key cause and driver of climate change. Will this signify a new era of climate action? At the end of 2023, representatives from 200 countries met in Dubai, UAE for COP28, the United Nations’ annual climate summit. While the purpose of this gathering is to push for more ambitious climate action, many were concerned about COP being hosted by a country that continues to advance the fossil fuel economy. This fear was compounded when another petrostate, Azerbaijan, was chosen to host next year’s COP29. As the end of the conference neared, getting any agreement on a final text, let alone ambitious commitments, appeared unlikely. Yet, on Wednesday, December 13th we received news that a “historic” agreement had been reached with the issue of fossil fuels firmly at the center for the first time, thanks to the hard work of many committed
When you think of Southern California, what plants come to mind? Perhaps it’s palm trees lining the streets of Los Angeles, citrus orchards cascading across Orange County, or eucalyptus groves offering a fragrant canopy on college campuses. However, these trees are not native to the area and sometimes do more harm than good, representing a form of botanical conquest that is anything but natural. It’s the oaks that are the cornerstone of life in this region. On a walk in Pasadena last spring, I smiled at the sight of a Coast Live Oak growing horizontally out of the side of a towering Mexican Fan Palm, probably grafted there by an industrious Acorn Woodpecker. With the beginning of a new year, I resolve to be more like the woodpecker–a cheerful and hardworking cultivator of oaks. Since reading Doug Tallamy’s book, Nature’s Best Hope with A Rocha USA’s Love Your Place book club, I’ve been reinvigorated to do my part in grassroots
A Rocha USA is a national community of Christians working in biodiversity conservation to protect and restore vulnerable habitats, species, and communities. We are part of a worldwide family of A Rocha organizations spanning more than 20 countries, with a shared 40-year history of caring for creation. In USA, we have projects in Texas and Florida, and national programs available for churches and individuals.
‘Blue,’ the fifth installment of A Rocha’s ‘Elements of Hope’ video series, delves into the relationship between mental health challenges and the positive effects of nature on our wellbeing. We investigate how immersing ourselves in nature can pull us out of our internal struggles and rekindle our connection to God and His call for us to be stewards of creation. Link to a study guide is available in the Vimeo notes.
Bounce Back, the fourth installment in A Rocha’s ‘Elements of Hope’ video series, asks us to examine where we find our hope amidst environmental disaster, such …
Bounce Back, the fourth installment in A Rocha’s ‘Elements of Hope’ video series, asks us to examine where we find our hope amidst environmental disasters, such as extreme wildfires or terrible floods. The film explores the idea of ‘refugia’, defined as an area in which a population of organisms can survive through a period of unfavorable conditions, especially glaciation and fire.
Forests do not regenerate without fire, and, like our own personal walk with Christ, we too must face challenges and be pruned and refined to grow in our faith. Loving God’s creation comes with lament and heartbreak for the things that are lost. But there is hope.
Learn more about finding hope amidst disaster in the ‘Bounce Back’ film and share with your church, school, bible study or youth group. You can find the accompanying discussion guide at arocha.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Study-Guide_Bounce-Back.pdf and download the video from our Vimeo channel.
Learn more about the history and lifecycle of the America Horseshow crab, one of the species we are researching and protecting at our Florida Conservation Project.
A Storymap about Picnics en el Arroyo, our program for Spanish-speaking Latino families in the Austin, Texas area. Picnics offer outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities, fostering a sense of inclusion and community, while also promoting pro-nature behaviors.
The third video in A Rocha’s ‘Elements of Hope’ video series, Take Root, explores the benefits of developing deep relationships and committing to a particular place or community over time.
Take Root highlights A Rocha’s approach to conservation over the long term through two specific stories: the protection of vulnerable habitats of the Alvor Estuary in Portugal, and living by example amidst a younger population in Uganda new to ideas like as creation care.
Peter Harris, Anglican clergyman and founder of environmental non-profit A Rocha, lost his beloved wife Miranda in a car accident in South Africa. Miranda left behind a grieving community, and an unfinished book.
Their daughter, Jo Swinney, found her mother’s unfinished book, full of wisdom and stories from a life dedicated to hospitality. She finished and published it, and in the process, learned much about both grief and joy.
In this episode, Peter and Jo sit down in front of a live audience to discuss the legacy of hospitality and faith that Miranda left, what it has been like to grieve, and what it might be like to see a deteriorating world with the same hope that Miranda did.
When the wind is just right, on a small beach in Titusville, Florida, horseshoe crabs crawl out of the water and onto the beach to lay their eggs. Jim and Colin joined up with two marine biologists—Bob Sluka who works with A Rocha, a Christian conservation organization and Margaret Miller, a coral biologist who works with SECORE International—and three A Rocha interns to survey the horseshoe crabs. That experience began an exploration into paying attention to many of the creatures that surround us, extending hospitality, and learning from the creatures, even from the ocean itself, about how we might better worship the creator of it all.
Preston Sprinkle talks with A Rocha USA Executive Director, Ben Lowe, about a Christian theology of Creation Care, the nature of the new creation, how to interpret 2 Pet 3, where it seems like God is going to destroy the earth. We then spend the bulk of our time looking at various environmental issues related to climate change, biodiversity, sustainable living, and how Christians can live reasonable and just lives that honor our task to care for creation.
By Tish Harrison Warren, in the New York Times Opinion’s Giving Guide, 2022.
“Christians understand Isaiah’s prophecies as culminating in Jesus’ return, and that this vision of a restored heaven and Earth is the ultimate destiny of the universe. Still, some Christian traditions, particularly white evangelicalism, emphasize a more individualistic view of God’s work of redemption. In the evangelical church I grew up in, salvation was primarily seen as an internal, spiritual experience — getting “saved” or being “born again” — so that we could go to heaven when we die. In the readings of Advent, however, Isaiah shows how incomplete this view is. God’s intention, Isaiah seems to say, is not evacuation from Earth to some far away afterlife but the healing and restoration of all things, even the material world of oak trees and orangutans, jellyfish and jalapeños, mountain laurels and desert willows.”
I am so excited this week because I love my garden and creeks and mountains and a big blue sky and we are talking about joy in nature! Verónica Godoy spent most of her life out in nature, climbing trees and playing on the beach in Argentina where she grew up. God opened her eyes to the biology of His creation when she was just 8 years old and she knew then that it was what she wanted to study (and sure enough, she earned both a B.S. and PhD in biological sciences). She has been a scientist and a teacher, and now works at A Rocha, a national community of Christians working in biodiversity conservation to take care of our environment.
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A Rocha USA
A Rocha USA, Inc.
PO Box 223
Wheaton, IL 60187
Email: [email protected]
© 2024 A Rocha USA
A Rocha USA
A Rocha USA, Inc.
PO Box 223
Wheaton, IL 60187
Email: [email protected]
© 2024 A Rocha USA
A Rocha USA
