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Field Notes explores the themes of conservation and hope through a wide lens. Our guests include a moth-er, a wine theologian, Hebrew scholar, an environmental historian and a linguistic philosopher among others. Soundtrack – Jill Phillips & Andy Gullahorn: ‘Only Say the Word’ (instrumental track) from the album ‘The Good Things.’ Used with kind permission. www.andygullahorn.com – www.jillphillips.com
52 Episodes
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While the outlook for biodiversity is rather bleak, all the evidence says conservation works - we just need to do it well and do it more. It sounds simple, but often well-intended interventions have unintended consequences, or aren’t very effective, or become unmanageable over time. How do we learn the important lessons, what does success mean in this context, and how does someone in Jeremy’s line of work remain hopeful? Jeremy Lindsell has been working on globally threatened species and trop...
Growing up, Sylvia spent a lot of time on the family farm just outside Nairobi, Kenya. Where she remembers a wide open landscape, there are now blocks of flats and a hospital. Reliable rains have been replaced by four seasons of drought and the land can no longer support the herds of livestock it once did. We talk to her about the role of media in addressing the catastrophic loss of biodiversity and climate change in Kenya and how her generation are rising to the challenges of their uncertain...
Jo and Rick are joined by Jo Herbert-James to discuss the themes in Jo Swinney’s Lent book, “The Whole Easter Story: why the cross is good news for all creation.” What does our relationship with God have to do with how we live on this earth? How is the death and resurrection of Christ relevant to the current crises of biodiversity collapse and climate change? And are us humans really all that matters to God or just part of the picture?
This is the United Nations Decade of the Ocean, bringing an increased focus on caring for the ‘blue’ bit of the planet. Governing marine and coastal areas involves convening a multitude of groups - often with competing interests. Agreeing a management approach that works not only for the humans but the many other living things in the ecosystem may be difficult but it isn’t impossible, as Environmental Geographer Dr Tim Stojanovic can testify. Over his 30 year career, Tim has researched how n...
Cindy Verbeek left her city life for a rural Eden in northern BC, Canada, where the air was clean, bears nonchalantly wandered along the local high street and preserving nature was hardwired into community life. It might have seemed an ideal situation for a dedicated naturalist giving her life to conservation. In reality, many years of struggle, discouragement and isolation were to follow, before she learnt how to speak the heart language of her adopted home and everything changed. If you ha...
To halt and reverse the terrible trends in nature loss and climate change requires collaboration at international levels. With every country coming to the table with its own interests and agenda, it is no small task to agree joint commitments that stand a chance of changing the global outlook. Thankfully, there are good people in the room equal to the challenge. Among them is Dr Cyriaque Nikuze Sendashonga, who has worked in the policy and politics of biodiversity conservation for over forty...
The choice to start a family is always a great act of faith, hope and courage. In these unprecedented days of biodiversity collapse, climate change and societal upheaval, all the more so. Doro is a marine biologist from Germany, whose love of the ocean goes back to her earliest memories. She is all too familiar with the state of the planet and yet she has recently become a mother. In this honest and raw conversation, she brings us into the adventure of motherhood and marine biology and her ho...
Is carbon offsetting just something to make us feel a bit better about our climate-harming behaviours? How does it actually work and is there good science behind the numbers? Caroline leads Climate Stewards, one of the organizations in the A Rocha family. She talks us through the principle of the downward spiral underlying their measure, reduce, offset process and tells some captivating stories which bring to life the wholistic benefits of offsetting to habitats, species and human communities.
Raised in Southern Chile in a family of farmers, teachers and pastors, Cristina never realized how all those areas could be linked with God's purposes to bring redemption to all his creatures. For most of her life, she worked as a staff member in a church in the big city, leaving her love for nature for holidays. In this delightful conversation, she shares the story of how some unexpected friendships and an internship with A Rocha Canada gave her a new purpose and a community. She co-fo...
Most of us live largely disconnected from the production of our food, but whether or not we give it much thought, each mealtime puts us in relationship with our fellow creatures, the soil, the air and the water. Abby and Carly are farmers at A Rocha Canada’s Brooksdale, BC site. They tell us why a conservation organization grows, eats and gives away so much food, why they love to welcome inexperienced helpers who often slow them down, and what the rhythms of the seasons have taught them about...
In 2023, Rui, his wife Debora, and their two young children moved their life from a campervan to Cruzinha, A Rocha Portugal’s field study centre in the Algarve. It is hard to imagine a more radical change but it is one their family has embraced wholeheartedly and with delight, notwithstanding the challenges. In this honest and inspiring conversation, Rui tells stories and reflects on how it feels to live in a home with a constantly changing array of people, united by a common love and concern...
More and more Christians acknowledge God’s call to care for his creation, and yet resist taking action. Kuki has preached, taught and written on creation care to audiences around the world for decades, and believes the main barrier is our love of convenience. From Mizoram in North East India and recently appointed as A Rocha International’s first Director of Church Engagement, she tells us about her hopes for the role and what spurs her on despite the challenges.
Federica Marsi is a multi-lingual freelance journalist who has filed dozens of hard-hitting reports from everywhere from Tunisia to Lebanon, Jordan to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Federica’s life and career were going well and then lockdown happened and everything was taken away. Here she shares her remarkable story about what happened next, and how she left her flat in Milan on an improbable journey to Kenya which eventually leads to A Rocha and Mwamba, its field study centre ...
Uganda is known for the beauty and diversity of its landscape, encompassing as it does the enormous Lake Victoria and the snowy peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains. It is a land of contrast, with lush gardens full of tropical fruit and vegetables for the table, while families scrabble around for food. Wildlife in abundance attracting a thriving tourist industry, but local children grow up having never seen an elephant. Uganda has the world’s youngest population with over half of children under fo...
Nature is under enormous stress. It is almost impossible to turn a blind eye to the impact of our over consuming, polluting, degrading way of living on this planet. Fewer birds sing in sadder looking trees, under skies either delivering a month of rain in an hour or frighteningly blue day after day. If you are one of the many struggling with Eco Anxiety, this conversation with Leah Kostamo will be a source of help, hope and comfort. Leah is Co Founder and Spiritual Care Coordinator of A Rocha...
As the first day of 2023 dawned, Ed could not have known that by September he’d accept God’s calling to ‘sing a new song’ and be leading a global conservation organization he had barely heard of. With a history of walking towards crises, whether war, famine, or homelessness, perhaps it is unsurprising he was willing to face into the rather overwhelming disaster of biodiversity loss and join the A Rocha family at this precarious moment for the world. Ed is someone with great vision, energy and...
A Rocha's cofounders Peter and Miranda Harris were in their early thirties when they identified the collapse of the biosphere as the issue of our times and decided to give their lives to that cause. With a big vision, next to no resources, and in a context of skepticism and apathy, they and their three small children moved to Portugal in 1983 together with another family, Les and Wendy Batty, and their two daughters. 40 years later, A Rocha's commitments and character are the same, expressed...
It is the poorest of this world who suffer the worst impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change. But we'd be wrong to think the vulnerable are passive in suffering and without agency or hope. This is a conversation that will leave you in awe of human resilience and the goodness of God in spite of the painful reality. Godwin leads A Rocha Ghana’s work in the north of the country, in and around Mole National Park. The Savannah Region is a beautiful but harsh landscape and severely economi...
Do you ever find you have walked for several minutes without any awareness of your surroundings? Particularly in cities, where our senses can be overloaded, we can block out much of what is going on around us. Prarthi has always lived in urban environments so her early love of nature was fuelled by nature shows on TV rather than direct experience. But she’s learnt to be attentive, to live with a posture of curiosity and playfulness, and to learn from the book of nature. As you listen to Prart...
Originally from Brazil, Gustavo draws on his previous experience coming from the business sector to the nonprofit world and challenges us to rethink how we measure success. Rather than continuous growth as the usual marker for achievement, Gustavo shares insights on what living out his Christian faith looks like and how that helps him redefine success. He describes a different way— the A Rocha way, which involves working with vulnerable places and communities, committing to deeper relationshi...
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