Forty years of The Rock

Forty years ago, in southern Portugal, an unlikely new Christian venture began. Two Christian couples from the UK founded a centre in an old farmhouse in the Algarve to put into practice the Christian call to care for creation.

Nobody had done anything like it before. A Rocha (Portuguese for ‘The Rock’) is a welcoming, cross-cultural Christian community with a focus on science and research, practical conservation and environmental education. You can read the full story in Peter Harris’ Under the Bright Wings, which inspired me to visit in the 1990s and remain involved ever since.

From its beginnings as a single project in Portugal, A Rocha has grown to be a global family of conservation organisations, working in more than 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica. This growth is told in the sequel, Kingfisher’s Fire: A story of hope for God’s earth. In the UK, although there is no centre, A Rocha UK is active in working with churches through the Eco Church initiative and with Christian land managers to demonstrate active care for the natural world.

Support of John Stott

What lies behind this remarkable growth? Humanly speaking, we can point to heavyweight theological support from keen birdwatcher John Stott, who acted as A Rocha’s patron for many years; to the mentoring of young conservationists who would become leaders round the world, and to the practical demonstration of creation care and love for neighbour in a Christian community. In God’s timing, A Rocha has played a key role in awakening the global church to its responsibilities. It’s as if there was a big hole in the church’s understanding of mission; the church said, ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it’ (Ps. 24: 1), but for too long failed to act on its creation-care mandate. That is now changing, although there’s still much to do.

Over the last year, I’ve had the privilege of visiting three A Rocha centres – in France, Kenya and Portugal. The cultural context is different in each place, but in each there is a Christian community which shares the same values, known as the five commitments of A Rocha. They are: Christian – following Jesus Christ who created the world and calls us to care for it; Conservation – protecting and restoring nature, and committed to local places and people over the long term; Community – investing in good relationships; Cultural Diversity – celebrating the insights, perspectives and solutions offered by diverse cultures; Collaboration – working with anyone who shares A Rocha’s vision.

Take A Rocha Kenya’s centre at Watamu. It’s a popular tourist spot with white sandy beaches and a tropical coral reef offshore. Yet it has its share of environmental problems, from plastic beach pollution to fishermen catching turtles, and locals exploiting the remaining coastal forest for firewood. At Mida Creek, A Rocha has built a 250-metre suspended boardwalk through the mangroves to a birdwatching hide. It’s used for environmental education, but visitors like me who pay to use it are supporting the ASSETS eco-bursary scheme which enables children to attend secondary school and teaches them about the beauty and fragility of their unique local ecosystems, like the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Kirao (see photo), one of the earliest ASSETS beneficiaries, is now A Rocha Kenya’s research scientist and was demonstrating bird ringing during my visit, part of the scientific programme.

From small beginnings, A Rocha projects now offer a beacon of hope for creation around the world. There’s a new generation of national leaders, modelling to their own communities and churches how to care for creation in a way that honours the Creator. You can find more details at www.arocha. org/en/.