A Rocha International News, issue 40: January 2006 - Poverty and conservation issue

Stella Simiyu on how environmental degradation most hurts poor people:

"If you look at Africa, for example, the rural poor depend directly on the natural resource base. This is where their pharmacy is, this is where the local supermarket is, this is where the Do-It-Yourself store is, this is in fact their fuel station, their power company, their water company. What would happen to you if these things were removed from your local neighbourhood? Therefore we cannot afford not to invest in environmental conservation, because this is how we enhance the ability of the rural poor to have options and provide for them ways of getting out of the poverty trap."

Stella lives in Nairobi where she is Senior Research Scientist (Plant Conservation) at the East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya. She serves on the national committee of A Rocha Kenya and is an A Rocha International Trustee.

UK Church leaders make the connection

"Hope for the Planet" was A Rocha UK's first ever conference specifically for church leaders. And they were queueing up to get in! All 210 places were taken and there was enough interest to fill the event almost twice over.

The conference sought to engage the UK Church in the environmental crisis and to make caring for God's creation a core part of the gospel message. An impressive line-up of speakers included Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University and Dr Elaine Storkey, the UK president of Tearfund and a well known broadcaster. Keynote addresses were also given by Sir John Houghton, Co-chair of the Scientific Assessment Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, Science Director of the Eden Project.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and the National Trust (major conservation NGOs) were also represented.

There were workshops too, including one on 'Poverty and the Environment', which was ably led by Tearfund. Encouragingly, the traditional cry of 'it's the people or the planet, we can't look after both', was nowhere to be heard. Andy Atkins, Tearfund's Advocacy Director, made it clear that human life is totally reliant on environmental resources, and that when the environment is mismanaged, poverty advances. A well managed environment provides safe water, sanitation, food, livelihoods and energy. It's also true that the negative impacts of natural disasters are felt most by the poor. To quote Andy: 'You cannot get people out of poverty unless you engage with the environment'.

In his concluding remarks, Peter Harris, A Rocha's International Director said: 'The Christian church is now responding to a move of the Spirit around the world. We should care because of the poor; we should care because it's authentic biblical Christianity'.

David Chandler

Poverty and conservation - making the connection

South African women collecting polluted drinking water.

Ecology is the study of connections, even if the problem for contemporary ecologists is that we live in a time of strenuous disconnection. Privilege, whether personal or societal, requires isolation. Products conceal their origins, academic disciplines operate in expert solitude, social relationships fragment. In a year when the European Commission's own auditors cannot account for 65% of its own expenditure(1), we have to admit there is a lot we don't see too clearly.

In part this is because technological connection has never been easier, and so the very inconvenient light of knowledge can shine all too easily upon the often murky and unequal relations that lie behind the prosperity of the relatively few in an increasingly poor and broken world.

But there is nothing new here - the Old Testament prophets were remarkably ahead of their time in spelling out inconvenient connections, and their ancient voices sound uncomfortably topical. We can listen to two across the centuries: anticipating our data by three millennia, Hosea takes us in one unflinching leap from social evils to ornithological catastrophe and from human dysfunction to marine distress. "Hear the word of the Lord... There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery... Because of this the land mourns... the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying." (2)

Isaiah said the same, "The land lies polluted under its inhabitants" (3), only one of the ancient and profound ecologists for whom pollution was always moral, whether physical or otherwise. However the creation has its own logic, and all is not lost. The connections between human choices and environmental distress have never been more apparent. The good science which lies behind such magisterial achievements as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has inevitably brought to light the connected processes that lead inexorably from the decisions made in wealthy societies, to the consequences of ecosystem impoverishment, and inevitably then to human suffering.

It is becoming ever more apparent that knowledge of environmental degradation does not lead to the necessary changes within society, and so within the environmental organisations themselves a profound reflection has begun. A key conclusion of the highly influential study The Death of Environmentalism (4) was that "We will never be able to turn things around as long as we understand our failures as essentially tactical and make proposals that are essentially technical."

So it is a time of opportunity. We can begin with a renewed commitment to truth telling, to good research and honest enquiry of the wider creation, in order to re-connect our human choices to their global consequences. We can now understand much better the scope of all those choices to either impoverish or to enrich all of those human societies with whom we share God's good earth. We need to listen harder to those who are currently at the heart of the matter in the poorer world, whose words we find in these pages. We need to talk more clearly with those making the bigger decisions in the wealthy world, who we pray will hear the prophets. Why does it matter? Because as Eugene Peterson has rightly said, "Everything has to do with something else, and if you follow it far enough, it has to do with you and God."(5)

Peter Harris, International Director, A Rocha

1. BBC online news 15 November 05
2. Hosea 4:1-3 NIV
3. Isaiah 24:5 ASV
4. The Death of Environmentalism: Global Warming Politics in a Post-Environmental World by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus. Online publication. Copyright 2004 www.thebreakthrough.org, www.evansmcdonough.com
5. Eugene Peterson: Regent Lectures: Follow the Leader, 2000.

Making the connection in Kenya

A Rocha Kenya environmental educator, Tsofa Mweni, Wildlife Club teacher, George Yaa, with students Ruwa Jeremiah and Cleophass Sulubu.

In Kenya children learn about the connection between their future and the conservation of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest.

A Rocha Kenya is committed to working with communities to protect the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, one of the most important forests for wildlife in all of Africa. But how can children living around the forest escape from poverty? Through the ASSETS programme (an eco-bursary scheme initiated by A Rocha Kenya) many are able to attend secondary school and look forward to employment opportunities unknown to their parents. Through its environmental education programme, A Rocha Kenya teaches young people about other ways in which they can benefit from the survival of the forest.

Melissa Ong from Singapore, currently working as A Rocha's film-maker, interviewed two teenagers who are members of local wildlife clubs run by Tsofa Mweni, A Rocha Kenya's Environmental Education Officer.

Cleophass watches as his sister cooks ugali for lunch, using firewood instead of charcoal.

Cleophass Sulubu (Aged 15)

"When I was young I used to poach small birds by trapping and shooting them. We used to take our animals for grazing. At the grazing site, we just gave the animals to the younger kids and then we converged inside the forest to poach some animals." Cleophass tells us that it was a competition to see who could kill the most. He and his friends used catapults to kill the birds and ate them later. He's even eaten the rare Golden-rumped Elephant-shrew.

After learning from A Rocha Kenya about the importance of the forest, he's stopped killing birds, because "we learnt that conserving the environment is a way of helping ourselves. It also helps us by getting jobs."

Environmental education has also impacted his family and village. "In those olden days, my parents used to burn charcoal for fuel. They used to cut down the big hardwood trees. After we have learnt from Mr Tsofa, then we passed that message to them by explaining the importance of forest conservation."

What does his family use now? Wood and branches from fallen trees, which was what we found when we made a surprise visit to his home after the interview.

Ruwa speaking with Melissa at his school.

Ruwa Jeremiah (Aged 13)

The teacher picked Ruwa for us to speak with because he had written an excellent article, "Why Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Should Be Conserved" for the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest News Bulletin.

Shy Ruwa aspires to attend secondary school and wants to be a doctor when he grows up. We asked, "Do your parents have money to send you to secondary school?" He shook his head slowly. But he knows there is hope. He mentions a student who graduated from his school, and now attends the top secondary school in Kenya. It was made possible through the support of ASSETS, which he writes about in his article.

For him, the importance of conserving the forest and growing trees is more than a textbook fact. He knows it's linked with his future and his life: "It is important because it is catchment area for rain."

"After learning in school, I told my parents to plant more trees. They went to the Forest Station to buy seedlings and I helped them to plant the seedlings."

Making the connection in South Africa

Allen, Nkosinathi and municipal workers in the conservancy.

A Rocha South Africa's Living Msunduzi Waterways Project is working with others to create employment and a healthy ecosystem along the Msunduzi River

Conserving biodiversity and simultaneously uprooting poverty is challenging because most forms of environmental degradation and most forms of poverty are interlinked and not accidental. They have been caused, directly or indirectly, by centuries of social and political exploitation. Thus many Old Testament prophets' words about injustice are apt for the world today. Then as now, poverty and destruction of the environment are the result of social and political selfishness. The interests of the few have been served best by creating structures to keep the many in abject poverty. Simultaneously, creation's resources have been mismanaged. Apartheid is one recent example. Ongoing multinational abuse of Amazonian ecosystems is another. Social, economic and environmental injustices persist worldwide. Small wonder then that both wildlife conservation and uplifting poor communities presents one pivotal challenge ­ transforming wealthy people's attitudes and behaviour patterns in politics and economics.

A Rocha South Africa is making a start in the Living Msunduzi Waterways Project in Pietermaritzburg. Between its sources, and the confluence with the Umngeni River (about 70 km) the Msunduzi flows through valleys which are home to 600,000 people, who have either inadequate, or no waterborne sewerage infrastructure. Too little has changed in these communities since apartheid. Rates of HIV infection, life expectancy, unemployment and poverty-related crimes are shocking, especially juxtaposed with the standard of living of South Africa's small wealthy class. The Msunduzi also meanders through Pietermartizburg's urban and industrial centre so water quality is poor. Escherichia coli pollution ranging from 4,000 to 200,000 colony forming units per 100ml and toxic industrial effluents threaten human health and the survival of a surprising range of wild plants and animals in the riparian zone. Good summer rains, and the water releases from Henley Dam for South Africa's two biggest canoe marathons are a meagre guarantee of survival to flagship species like the River Monitor, Giant Kingfisher and Cape Clawless Otter.

Riverside, A Rocha's temporary headquarters in South Africa, stands twelve metres above the Msunduzi. In the last year, A Rocha has created employment for Nkosinathi Chonco and ad hoc day workers, to transform a 2 km stretch of the riverbanks below Riverside into a conservancy. Invasive Syringa and Sesbania} trees have made way for Quinine trees, wild bananas and current bushes. Small businesses, local schools and neighbouring residents are our project partners, donating funding necessary for this livelihood creation project. One partner, the Duzi-Umngeni Conservation Team, a group of canoeist conservationists and engineers, is following A Rocha's lead by fundraising for community employment projects to create a riparian conservancy all the way from Pietermaritzburg to Durban!

Malachite Kingfishers hunt along the Msunduzi River.

Allen Goddard

Special Species: The Indian Star Tortoise Geochelone elegans

Vijay D. Anand withan adult tortoise.

The Indian Star Tortoise is a characteristic species of the Indian sub-continent. It is distinctive and attractive, growing up to around 30cm across the carapace, but it faces a number of threats: it is traded for food, used in traditional medicine (primarily in Asia) and kept as a pet in Asia and North America. In India, it is illegal either to possess or trade the Indian Star Tortoise and the species is also legally protected in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as a species that, while not currently endangered, is at a risk of becoming extinct. Despite this, the Indian Star Tortoise is widely traded.

A study by A Rocha India's Vijay D. Anand and Surendra Varma in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India investigated the complex and secretive way in which this species is taken from the wild and illegally traded. The results reveal a global network whose end result is cruelty to animals and the pushing of a species towards extinction.

Research involved several aspects. Visits were made to enforcement agencies to collect information about past tortoise seizures, details of offenders and prosecutions, and also the status of the seized animals. Rehabilitation centres were also contacted to gather information on Star Tortoises in captivity. Field investigations looked at habitats and the source of the trade. Undercover enquiries were made at markets, pet shops and business establishments to assess their involvement. Web page and literature surveys were carried out to determine the global extent of trade in Indian Star Tortoises. The results allowed mapping of the most common routes through which these tortoises are taken and exported. In the Andhra Pradesh region they are mostly collected by nomadic local forest hunters and then sold through nearby villagers to dealers in major cities such as Bangalore. They are smuggled abroad, often through cruel methods in which most suffer and many die.

Juvenile tortoises seized from smugglers.

Although most tortoises are destined for the Asian market, their high value in the United States (where they can fetch up to $1,000) means that attempts are made to smuggle them there. Although the more effective enforcement of laws in the United States appears to be restricting illegal imports, some smuggling clearly continues. The treatment of tortoises rescued from would-be smugglers seems often to be poorly managed and death rates up to 60% have been reported at one rehabilitation centre.

This study lays the foundations for reducing trade in the Indian Star Tortoise. The identification of collection sites, transit points, smuggling methods and final destinations is an aid to enforcement agencies.

Making the Connection in Canada

Vancouver children enjoying day camp activities.

Environmental education in UrbanVancouver

The Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada, is well known for its spectacular scenery of mountains and rocky coastlines. In fact, every license plate on every car declares "Beautiful British Columbia." But even here, many people in urban areas cannot easily get into the countryside, or enjoy the local wildlife. In East Vancouver the A Rocha Canada team offers day camps to local children. The price of attending the camps is intentionally kept very low, which makes it accessible for kids of all backgrounds, from single parent and foster care families to newly arrived immigrants. During the urban-based day camp the kids spend the first part of the week in their own neighbourhood, learning about the plants and wildlife that can be found in their everyday life. They play games, sing songs, hear stories, make crafts and enjoy all the fun of a typical day camp. Then on the final day, everyone loads into the big church vans and heads out to the A Rocha Field Study Centre. Here they gasp in wonder as they pull strange bugs from the water during pond-dipping activities and have the chance to pet the hairy Highland Cows while learning about sustainable living. In both settings children are given the gift of new eyes to discover the amazing creation which surrounds them every day.

Jessica Nye

A Rocha wins "Hope for Europe" Award

The Portugal team with Beatriz Felgueiras holding up the "Hope for Europe" award.

The "Hope for Europe" award for 2005 was presented to A Rocha in Tavira, Portugal, in October. The annual award recognizes a project or a ministry, in Europe, which "embodies the proclamation and demonstration of the message of hope, while maintaining core values of partnership, networking, transformation, and integrity (in finances, relationships, and ministry)." The award was accepted by Marcial Felgueiras, Director of A Rocha Portugal and Alfredo Abreu, one of the International Trustees.

Resources for Making the Connection

New!

A Rocha's first Conservation Science Review (2003-2005) has just been published and can now be downloaded from the A Rocha website.

Visit www.arocha.org and click on 'What we do' or go to the Conservation Science Review page.

Caring for Creation

In his foreword to the new A Rocha book Caring for Creation, John Stott writes, "Creation is a much-neglected biblical topic, and caring for creation an equally neglected biblical responsibility. So I am delighted with this symposium."

Caring for Creation meets a real need by combining twelve biblical reflections from various authors with stories from A Rocha's work around the world. Whilst published in the UK and edited by British A Rocha supporter Sarah Tillett, the book has a truly international feel ­ with chapters from Vinoth Ramachandra, Eugene Peterson and James Houston and stories from nine different A Rocha national organisations. Other contributors include A Rocha's own Dave Bookless, Peter Harris and Miranda Harris; and eminent scientists Prof Sir Ghillean Prance, Prof RJ Berry and Sir John Houghton. It's a great book to pass on to anybody who wants to explore the biblical basis for A Rocha’s work.

To order a copy please contact the A Rocha Canada office.

Keeping Earth in Common: A Just Faith for a Whole World

24-25 February 2006, at Regent College, Vancouver.

This conference, jointly organized by Regent College and A Rocha Canada, will explore the biblical and theological connection between a suffering earth and suffering humanity while highlighting real world examples that demonstrate both mutual brokenness and mutual health. Join us as we seek justice and wholeness for all creation as faithful followers of Christ in a hurting world.

Speakers include Stella Simiyu, Alfredo Abreu and Peter Harris of A Rocha, Dave Diewert and Iain Provan of Regent College.