ChristianWeek

PEMBINA VALLEY, MB—With environmental issues rising to the top of the political agenda, international Christian conservation group A Rocha is timely in opening their second Field Study Centre in Canada.

A guardian of salmon and bird habitats on B.C.’s Little Campbell River since 2003, A Rocha Canada’s newest project is located in southwestern Manitoba’s scenic Pembina Valley, home of the province’s premier hawk migration.

A Rocha Canada is launching their “Footprints of Hope” campaign to permanently secure the Pembina Valley site (as well as their Surrey, B.C. base) for environmental study. Donations will also finance the development of the Manitoba centre with an educational and interpretive building, staff residence and viewing decks and towers.

The 100 acres of scenic aspen-oak forests and grasslands will be a place for monitoring bird migration, inventorying local flora and fauna, locating species at risk and promoting education and stewardship. A Rocha Canada executive director Markku Kostamo says once the Field Study Centre is established “we will welcome people from all over the world to participate in hands-on projects.”

Henry Martens and his wife Elma retired from teaching careers in 2004 to become full time directors of the Pembina Valley centre. “A lot of our efforts will be on trying to preserve the natural habitat,” says Martens. “One thing that has alarmed me is the invasive species, such as leafy spurge. It’s hard to control and it takes over an area and pushes out the natural vegetation. A healthy habitat is the best way to help the animals and birds.”

This spring will mark their third annual raptor (birds of prey) monitoring program. For 40 days beginning in late March, during daylight hours, workers will take shifts identifying and counting all the hawks and eagles flying into the valley.

Under the theme “Celebrating the Wonder of Creation,” the Pembina Valley centre is hosting five public educational events this summer: Birds (May 19), Native Wildflowers (June 16), Insects (July 21), Wild Fruit (August 18), and Seasons in September. (All dates are tentative.)

As it develops, the centre will become more active in hosting school groups and engaging churches. They have already begun “partnering with Pembina Valley Bible Camp and other camps to provide them with resources on environmental education,” says Martens.

A way of worship

“[Our goal] is to help people learn about the environment and foster an appreciation that in the end will result in a better care of it,” says Martens. “For me, caring for creation is a way of expressing worship.”

“Very early in A Rocha’s work we took on Psalm 24:1 as our inspiration: ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,’” says Kostamo.

In addition to seeking volunteers, this spring the Field Study Centre will begin offer internship programs. “Part of what A Rocha does is to encourage living in Christian community. Interns will live on-site for extended periods of time—ranging from a month to a year,” says Martens.

A Rocha is working in 16 countries to protect not only wildlife, but the vulnerable people who depend upon natural resources and sustainable agriculture. “When we don’t care for creation, it’s our poor brothers and sisters in the developing world that are affected,” Kostamo told CJOB GodTalk radio. “This century we’re going see refugees as a result of environmental degradation increase.”

“If all the world were to live at our [North American] standards we would need four to five planets to do that,” says Kotsamo.

In the six years Kostamo has been with A Rocha, he’s seen the church’s view of the environment change drastically. “The whole landscape is shifting. Christians are becoming more aware of our role to be keepers of the earth,” says Kostama.

Now Canadians have one more way to get involved.

For information on events or to donate, call 204-246-2059, email manitoba@arocha.org or visit www.arocha.org/canada