Amazon – The Pollinator: Creation Care Network News

Amazon fires, creation care and the mission of the church – Lausanne Global Analysis

Ed — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 20:23:28 +0000

This month’s Lausanne Global Analysis has a piece by veteran missionary and pastor Tim Carriker that puts the recent Amazon fires in perspective:

The 2019 dry-season Amazon fires drew attention from political leaders and church organizations worldwide, not only because of their number and intensity, but also due to their worldwide environmental impact and the reaction of Brazilian and other government officials.
Yet, these still-burning Amazon fires are only a part of an extremely complex web of events related to an increasing planetary crisis.^[1] As such they raise important questions about an appropriate Christian response. This article addresses each of these issues: the fires themselves, their worldwide impact and significance, and worldwide and national government responses, as well as guidelines for a Christian response.
https://www.lausanne.org/content/lga/2020-03/devastating-fires-churchs-mission

Tim concludes with a call to action that we can agree with:

The single most strategic action to resolve the long-term effects of the Amazonian fires and deforestation is the mobilization of local churches and Christian organizations to plant trees. Nearly half of the world’s trees have been destroyed since the start of human civilization. Reforestation is the top climate change solution advocated by most scientists and the United Nations, along with programs to reduce emission of carbon and the preservation of current forests. Worldwide, approximately one trillion trees need to be planted, representing an area about the size of the US. While that number seems astounding, there is enough available uncultivated land in the world to meet that demand. Churches and Christian organizations can play their part in pilot programs and promote commercial and government initiatives at local and international levels to do the same.^[14]

Read the article here.

What’s really going on in the Amazon?

Ed — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 16:48:06 +0000

Are the fires really worse than previous years, or are we once again being subjected media hype? A Rocha has taken the time to dig into the issue with particular reference to how Christians in Brazil are responding. Here is an important summary paragraph (but do yourself a favor and read the whole thing):

So, whilst it is possible to portray this year’s burning as in some way ‘typical’ or ‘unexceptional’ (i.e. you don’t have to go back too many years to find worse, and there is always a fire season in the region), it is very much out of step with recent years and nonetheless alarming. But crucially, it is the connection with deforestation and land clearance that needs our closest attention. This is not so much a problem of fire control, or a particular climatic event, but a direct result of land management practices. Forest clearance is devastating for forest-dependent biodiversity even in the absence of fire.

Also included in the A Rocha report is the Declaration in defence of the environment issued by the Brazilian Evangelical Christian Alliance in August.

A Rocha post is here; PDF report here.

Evangelicals in Latin America respond to the Amazon crisis

Ed — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 18:30:52 +0000

The Amazon crisis has captured the attention of the world, even to causing difficulty for the world’s great powers at the G7 summit in Spain last week. Christians in Latin America are also speaking out about this situation. Here is the introduction to their recent statement:

In the face of the terrible fires that consume large areas of flora and fauna of our Amazon, the organizations that make up the Evangelical Coalition for Climate Justice published a document asking for forgiveness of indigenous peoples, supporting organizations that fight for the Amazon and urge the Brazilian government and the world to take urgent measures to stop fires and protect the Amazon forest. (translated by Google)

Here is the original:
Ante los terribles incendios que consumen grandes extensiones de flora y fauna de nuestra Amazonía, las organizaciones que conforman la Coalición Evangélica por la Justicia Climática publicaron un documento donde piden perdón a los pueblos indígenas, apoyan a las organizaciones que luchan por la Amazonia e instan al gobierno de Brasil y al mundo a tomar medidas urgentes para detener los incendios y proteger el bosque amazónico.
Click here for the full statement:
alc-noticias.net/es/2019/08/24/pronunciamiento-de-la-coalicion-evangelica-por-la-justicia-climatica-ante-crisis-en-amazonia-de-brasil/?fbclid=IwAR1mDe6OFdy1qa0_iMZghAZAL2wD-PwP7COnXr2q20Y6ZEmy-ssV6…

Scroll to the end to see the full list of organizations signing, including TearFund-Latin America and LWCCN’s own Red Lausana para el Cuidado de la Creación, a group that was formed at the Latin America Creation Care and the Gospel conference in Peru in 2015. [Thank you to Juliana Morrillo, LWCCN’s Latin America Coordinator]

“Amazon Fires are Destroying Hope” – message from C of E’s Bishop for Environmental Affairs

Ed — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 18:49:58 +0000

Bishop Nick Holtam (Salisbury) recently expressed the concern many of us feel about what is happening in the Amazon at this time. The fires, he said, “destroy more than trees. They destroy hope.” Be in prayer for our sisters and brothers in Brazil who are trying to influence their own government and communities about this tragedy.