Alex is in the middle of a habitat exploration, seeing how different creatures survive and build shelters using sticks, moss, needles, and cones.

Greetings earthkeepers,

You journeyed with A Rocha through a good and tragic year.

It was good because of the diverse and rich Creation care work done across Canada for people and places. You protected and supported 350,000 ha of land and over 12 species at risk. Salish Suckers, Barn Swallows, Yellow-banded bumble bees, Western Toads, and Northern Red-legged Frogs. You trained over 6,500 kids, young people and adults. It all happens through teaching and hands-on experiences in forests, on the farm and in the river. You nourished and inspired over 1000 people in need. These people find belonging through shared meals and accessible environmental education. The stories below give you a brief glimpse into how you’ve made a difference.

It was a tragic year because we lost dear friends in a tragic car accident. This impact report also acknowledges the pain, loss and heart-ache that so many of us feel. God’s loving embrace holds us together, and now more than ever, we cling to this love, for the sake of God’s world.

Thank you for caring for A Rocha through your prayers, words and gifts this year. We love and miss you Chris, Suzanna and Miranda.

For 20 years, the “5C’s” have been A Rocha Canada’s glue. These five commitments are: Conservation, Christian, Cross-cultural, Cooperation and Community. Yes, Chris Naylor and Miranda Harris played an essential role in holding A Rocha together. Their legacy is how we live out these 5C’s. These commitments continue to draw people into a unique way of offering hope, love and action. Our friends Loren & Mary-Ruth Wilkinson remind us of this vocation they termed “earthkeeping.”

Here’s to the next two decades of earthkeeping together!

Sincerely yours,

Luke Wilson, CEO

Thank you, Luke, for giving me this opportunity to greet the A Rocha constituency on behalf of the A Rocha Canada Board. This past year has given me the joy of working together with a very dedicated Board team and with Luke in his first year as our CEO.

What a delight it is to read about A Rocha’s impact throughout 2019! We are, indeed, learning what it means to be earthkeepers, at times in sure leaps forward and at other times moving tentatively and experimentally. Truly we have much to learn and much to share.

Greetings to you all on behalf of your A Rocha Canada Board: Antoinette van Kuik (Chair), Tamar Koleba, Ledford Lilley (Treasurer), Sandra Manning, Ken Marr, Karen Reed and Barb Wernick.

Gratefully,

Antoinette van Kuik

A Rocha’s Frog Squad of scientists and interns prepare for protecting the Northern Red-legged Frog at Brooksdale.

The word ecology comes from the Greek word oikos, meaning household. A Rocha takes a  “household” view when it comes to our conservation work. Resisting the lure of trendy funding cycles that would have us shifting our conservation focus to the latest “species du jour”, we are committed to particular places and the creatures therein for the long haul. We pay attention to the most vulnerable members of the household (scientifically known as the Species at Risk) regardless of their seeming insignificance (thus we study threatened snails and amphibians as well as the more alluring swallows and trout), knowing that each species is valued by God and plays its own unique role in the home.

One such species that has held our sustained attention is the Northern Red-legged Frog.  We began our work with this humble but very hoppy amphibian way back in 2009, surveying for egg masses in ponds and wetlands throughout the Little Campbell River watershed. The surveys showed that Northern Red-legged Frog is threatened by disease, habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from human activity and development, as well as competition and predation by introduced species like the nefarious American Bullfrog. The surveying and studying has continued to this day (Abney et al. 2016) thanks to committed A Rocha staff and a steady flow of interns. The result is an impressive and growing data set that allows A Rocha and policy makers better understand the vulnerabilities of this species, which in turn can and inform management actions.

Project partners include: Environment Canada Habitat Stewardship Program, Trinity Western University

Dave and Mark at the first Gathered Voices event in Winnipeg

The environmental crisis can feel overwhelming and even paralyzing. A Rocha’s work in Manitoba is bringing hope and mobilization as we equip churches and their members to respond to the biblical mandate of creation care, particularly in this era of ecological suffering.

One such faith community is Grace Bible Church in Winnipeg. A Rocha’s Manitoba Director, Scott Gerbrandt, has acted as a coach and workshop leader for this congregation as they strive to become faithful Earth Keepers in their own neighbourhoods.

Here’s what Wilma Wiens, Minister of Pastoral & Spiritual Care, had to say about the help her church has received from A Rocha:

“During one particular A Rocha workshop, Scott facilitated small and large group conversations in which we were able to identify the two biggest roadblocks keeping us from further engagement in caring for creation. We were then given respectful space to decide how best we might respond to these roadblocks such that we could own our action steps and feel empowered in doing so. Scott’s enthusiasm and commitment to environmental stewardship are contagious. He takes an often guilt-laden issue and makes it invitational and fun while grounding it in sound biblical teaching. It was a fruitful, affirming event for us.”  

-Wilma Wiens, Minister of Pastoral & Spiritual Care for Grace Bible Church