Catch-up with A Rocha’s presence at IUCN

From 3 to 11 September 2021, the World Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was held at the Parc Chanot in Marseille. This congress of international importance aims to advance nature conservation policies throughout the world. It meets every four years.

This year, A Rocha was again actively involved in the congress.

• The “IN“. A Rocha International is a member of IUCN and was able to participate in the debates and votes. We were also able to have a presence on two stands in the Congress exhibition hall: A Rocha International and the other in collaboration with Eco Church (Eglise Verte) and the Diocese of Marseille.

Thomas Schirrmacher (Gemeral Secretaru of the World Evangelical Alliance), left, and Jean-François Mouhot (Director A Rocha France), right ©Esther Schirrmacher

• The “OFF” included events around the Congress that were not in the official programme. In this respect, the presence of A Rocha France was an important step for our visibility both to Protestants and Catholics. On the morning of Saturday 4 September, we were able to make a two-part presentation followed by an ecumenical celebration. On Saturday evening, we had a pleasant aperitif! Then we met again on Thursday for an interview on RCF and a round table discussion, the video of which you can find below.

It is fair to say that A Rocha France was well represented and identified everywhere!

Our relationships with other organisations that fight for the environment motivated by their faith were strengthened. One Eco Church ambassador, who is also a diocesan delegate, told us of his joy at discovering that Eco Church had not simply grown out of a recent impulse, but was in a way “grafted” onto a vine, mainly made up of A Rocha France, and that this was “rooting it”!

Finally, both our volunteers and our staff who were able to attend were delighted with the conference. They came away enriched, sometimes spiritually, sometimes scientifically, sometimes both!

Thank you all for this wonderful collaboration!