A Rocha International News, Issue 29: January 2003

Moving mountains on Minet

The transformation of the ninety acre Minet site over the past few months has been spectacular. The most obvious change to A Rocha UK's study area has been the turning of a very flat site into a series of hills and earth banks, using clean soil imported from elsewhere (including the former Wembley Stadium famous to soccer fans worldwide!). more >>

ASSETS: Supporting School Children and Conservation in Kenya

Why should people living on the Kenyan coast around the Arabuko- Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek protect these sites? The forest is home to six globally threatened bird species, but would you worry about rare birds if you needed the forest's and creek's natural resources to pay for your children's education? For just under a year now A Rocha Kenya has been putting into action a programme addressing these issues. more >>

"God's Stewards: The role of Christians in Creation Care"

This slim paperback has recently been published by World Vision, a Christian relief and development partnership which serves in some eighty countries. more >>

Springtime in Portugal

It's not too late to book a place on the seven-day Members' holiday at Cruzinha 27 March - 3 April 2003. Price £175 or 262.50 Euros (excluding flights and airport transfer). For more information please contact Rachel Simonson at Cruzinha. Holiday visitors at Cruzinha can enjoy many opportunities to see birds, moths and other wildlife being studied by the team. more >>

Never Alone

A Rocha has grown very fast in recent years, but with any expanding organisation the numbers are only one indicator of real development. While it is true that there are more and more national A Rocha projects and more and more people working full time or as volunteers, our growth in relationships, maturity and capacity to change local situations is not so easily measured. more >>

An A-Z of practical conservation: W is for Wetlands

The term Wetlands includes estuaries, mangroves, tidal flats, floodplains, deltas, peatlands and swampy forests as well as freshwater marshes, lakes and ponds. The decline in the area and quality of many of these habitats has been massive but many international agencies are working for their protection and enhancement eg IUCN the World Conservation Union and Wetlands International. more >>

News in Brief

Portugal - Lebanon - USA - France - India - South Africa more >>

What's That?

Identification skills are important in most branches of natural history but in mycology they're essential. It could even be a matter of life and death, or at the very least a real pain if you get it wrong! Mycology, the study of fungi, is popular in many Eastern European countries and particularly so in the Czech Republic where wild mushrooms feature strongly in the national diet. Pavel and Radka Svetlik, our Czech Project Leaders, have held mushroom exhibitions as part of their work at Prachatice, S. Bohemia for several years. Now they have moved to a new base in the north of the country near Nachod where they recently held their first A Rocha Fungi Exhibition. more >>

Birdwatching in the Bulgarian Mountains: An A Rocha Members' holiday, 9-17 May 2003

This members' week has been designed for energetic birdwatchers who'll enjoy hiking in the mountains at an unhurried pace, with time to stop and enjoy the dramatic scenery, butterflies and flowers. more >>