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Barbara Mearns has been involved with A Rocha since its beginnings, and for many years ran the A Rocha International office from her home in SW Scotland. Now retired, she writes an irregular blog about local wildlife at mearnswildlife.wordpress.com and spends as much time as possible recording dragonflies, butterflies, moths and birds. With her husband, Richard, she has researched the lives of many early naturalists, most recently for their updated Biographies for Birdwatchers (2022) see mearnsbooks.com. 

15th May 2016 | Barbara Mearns | 0 comments

The real Jungle Book

The Jungle Book: What a fabulous world it would be if we could feel safe with a pack of Wolves, sing with Sloth Bears, ride on a Leopard and talk to Asian Elephants. But the sad reality is that most of us face a dilemma which is the opposite of Mowgli’s. In the UK, where I live, most of us feel safest in our villages, towns or cities and react with fear or even aggression when nature threatens our security, our income, or our convenience in some way.

Categories: Reflections
Tags: fear India movies
15th April 2016 | Ruth Valerio | 1 comments

Father God, Mother Earth and a birthday newt

In my happiness, I tweeted and posted up the picture at the top of this article, with a note saying thank you to Mother Earth for my birthday present. I was then slightly bemused when someone gently reprimanded me for what I said, asking if I wasn’t maybe overbalancing into paganism, and why didn’t I thank Father God instead?

Categories: Reflections
Tags: amphibians Francis of Assisi paganism Pope Francis
29th February 2016 | Dave Bookless | 8 comments

Nature, red in tooth and claw?

I was distracted from the documentary by the reactions of my two friends. Jack revelled in the power and skill of the predators, their mastery of timing and feather control, the elegance and efficiency with which they hunted. Jill was horrified by their bloodlust. How could such callous cruelty be part of God’s good creation?

Categories: Reflections
Tags: future suffering