Accelerating Crisis, Accelerating Solutions

Two months of shocking environmental news challenge us to a bolder action. Andy Atkins, CEO of A Rocha UK, comments.

February was the hottest since records began in the UK; ice-cream vans came out at the seaside. The UN released terrifying research on the global decline of biodiversity and its implications for future food supply. Also in February, there were wildfires on the usually wet and chilly Yorkshire moors. In March, a whale washed up in the Philippines, was found to have died of hunger from eating the dozens of plastic sacks still in its stomach. In Southern Africa monster cyclone, Idai, combined with deforestation to produce wholescale death and destruction by flooding. Back in the UK, new research suggested that the government figure of 40,000 premature deaths a year from air pollution is a considerable underestimate.

Piece these news fragments together and they form a picture of environmental destruction accelerating on nearly every front.

How is a normal Christian meant to respond? Despair would be human but is not what we are called to. Deepening our individual activity is right and can be rewarding, but it can also be lonely and slow.

As with most aspects of discipleship, ... Read more...

Partners Working Together – Conservation Grazing

St. Madoc’s Youth Centre is ARUK’s Partner in Action on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. Following the end of a long-term tenancy agreement with a local farmer, they are keen to explore ways to manage the land to benefit habitats, wildlife, and plant diversity on the Gower, part of which will include conservation grazing.
 
Hilfield Friary, ARUK’s Partner in Action in North Dorset, has had conservation grazing on their land since the early 2000’s, and it’s now a key part of their management for biodiversity in chalk downland wildflower meadows. Lydia Reese, our Partner in Action Manager and Richard Thornbury, who started the conservation grazing programme at the Friary, arranged a training for St. Madoc’s staff to share what they have learned.

After an overview of the basic principles of conservation grazing using both sheep and cattle in open pasture, the staff of St. Madoc’s Centre had a tour of the Friary land and learned about some of the past challenges that the Friary has encountered as well as current obstacles and successes. They observed the differences in pastures with varying management plans and examined the animals in winter condition, observing their health and wellbeing.

The other ... Read more...