GC Rainforest Fund – 100 Churches

1. 2024 Update and Introduction
2. The vital need to save habitats
3. Why your church might like to take part
4. Which habitats?
5. Which charities?
6. Posters/flyers to print to help you in your church
7. Which churches have taken part so far – is yours here?
8. More details/FAQs
9. What to do next

1. 2024 Update and Introduction:

This page needs updating due to the phenomenal rate of change in our world since the project was started in 2011. The project started locally at Settle, N Yorkshire, in 2008, and as a Green Christian Project in 2011. It is even more vital to contribute to save habitats now. 

By 2009 two planetary boundaries had been exceeded: Biodiversity loss and Reactive Nitrogen (NO2, ammonia, excess fertilizers etc in the air and many rivers )  with Climate Change rapidly increasing.

Now in 2024 SIX boundaries have been exceeded (See section 2). All within 14 years. The remaining Wildlife habitats continue to be lost (unimproved grassland, Steppe, forests marshland) so that there is less land for wild animals to live in. 

Green Christian’s “ Rainforest Fund ” is a way to show others that Christians care about God’s Creation.

It is a way to encourage others in your church and community to do deeds to save Valuable Habitats including Rainforest. 

Protecting natural forests is the most efficient way of

1.  keeping carbon in the ground/soil/trunks
2.  protecting biodiversity

i.e. if you have £100 to give to either protect biodiversity or to reduce climate change this is one of the very most effective ways of using it. 

Green Christian’s “ Rainforest Fund ” is a virtual fund, in that the money raised (to save threatened habit)  goes directly to other charities – mostly World Land Trust, Cool Earth and A Rocha Ghana. (You choose which one of these, or choose one with similar aims). If your church donates £100 or more to a habitat saving charity, let us know and I will add you to the list of active churches .

Please help us show that Christians really do care about wildlife – God’s gift to us and future generations

Join other Christians, (see latest activities) – showing- that Christians care about wildlife:-
– that nature’s diversity is precious.
– that we care that the wild species will still be there for future generations
– that we care for God’s world.

You can support wildlife projects of your own choice that save wildlife habitat, or one of the three charities recommended by us here. But please let us know if you have raised over £100 and we can add it to the chart

GC is seeking 100 churches to raise £100 each for habitat conservation projects  –   Could your church help?

The word “Rainforest” is used here as a symbol  for
any habitat of high biodiversity importance that is under threat
– including elephant corridors, mangrove swamps, marine nature reserves, etc 

Could your church have a fund raising event?

• to save habitat –
• or species ?

Please tell Green Christian. We will celebrate the fact by putting a link to you from this website

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2. The need to save habitats

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1. 1/4 of the world’s mammals and  1/5 of the plants are under threat of extinction
2. Humans – have caused more environmental degradation – in the past 60 years – than in all previous human history put together-
3. i.e. in OUR lifetime.
4. Spending £1 to save rainforest from being destroyed can prevent 330kg carbon dioxide being produced – that’s one third of a ton – a better return on £1 for preventing climate change than any other way –
   …(alongside some projects to enable family planning/spacing where there is a demand but people are otherwise unable to afford it – e.g. Chase Africa)
5. Species extinction rates are now 1000 times as great as the natural rate due to habitat loss 
6. Loss of biodiversity is the greatest of the planetary boundaries

Planetary Boundaries

FIg below: September 2023: 

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

In 2023 six planetary boundaries have been exceeded

In 2009 only three planetary boundaries had been exceeded.

Fig. above: Planetary boundaries according to the paper by Rockström et al. published in Nature 2009.
The red areas represent the estimated current state
with the inner green circle defining the estimated boundaries.

3. Why your church might like to take part

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1.) We want to show the world that Christians care about the gifts God has given us– and care that future generations should enjoy them too.

2.)  Biblical texts about the world and the gifts of animals and plants  show that it is not just a nice hobby to look after nature – but that it is imperative that Christians should look after God’s world

Genesis 1 – “God saw that is was good.” This is God’s world we live in, his gift to us. We owe it to him and to future generations to look after it.

Proverbs 31. 8 – “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves:”- The trees and the endangered animals cannot speak. The indigenous tribes and poor farmers who are thrown off their land by rich plantation farmers have difficulty being heard. Future generations cannot speak – who would like to see orang utans, tigers, whales and other endangered species

Philippians 4 v.8 – “Whatsoever is good – think on this“- The beauty variety and intrinsic worth of species of forest, sea, tundra and swamp is vast. .. as vast – or significantly more vast – perhaps as some of the material things we have to raise money for in our church buildings.

(See also GC’s downloadable leaflet with quotes)

3.)  New friendships and opportunities can ensue:-.There may be opportunity to invite conservationists and wildlife amateurs or experts to you church who are not members of your church.

4. Rainforest  or other habitats?

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We are working to protect Habitats of Biodiversity Importance, not just Rainforests.  However because “Rainforest” is a more succinct, colourful and emotive word than the phrase “Habitats of Biodiversity Importance”, we chose “Rainforest” for the title of the project.

5. Which Charities?

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GC can suggest projects to support.  We recommend:- World Land Trust, Cool Earth and A Rocha Ghana. 

• See blog about fundraising for them.

If you support a church abroad, why not ask that church about conservation projects near them, thus increasing both their and your awareness? If you have another favourite “habitat saving” charity already, then please support that – and let us know when you have raised £100 (or more) for it. You might like to support Chase Africa

6. Resources- Posters – for this project

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• Print as A5 handouts, back to back , or
• Blow up into a huge poster.
  (Many printers will enable you to print your document as a poster made up of 4, 9 or even 16 A4 sheets which can be stuck together, so you can make a really large poster. Go into the properties section for your printer)

Poster A	.
Poster B	.

100churches-gc

2)  Leaflets:

• 2024:  GC Biodiversity Leaflet  Contents of two leaflets below combined 
• Species extinctions – facts & review of Sean McDonagh’s book, printable as a  leaflet
• Saving Wildlife-1 – GC’s  Old Biodiversity-1 leaflet
• Saving Wildlife-2 – GC’s  Old Biodiversity-2 leaflet

• Species extinctions – quotable facts & review of Fr Sean McDonagh’s book

4) Recommended Video:

• Stations of the Forests – on Youtube. Use this in your church or workplace.  – download booklet

7. Churches which have raised over £100:

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We have 39 events/churches   listed but 5 of the churches have donated more than once, some several times! – In fact, only 18 different churches have taken part. Could your church help?

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8. Download doc file of Frequently Asked Questions about the project

More details:- Phone             01729 822138  webeditor@greenchristian.org.uk

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9. What to do next

What would you recommend doing next? Mean while do contact me webeditor@greenchristian.org.uk and we’ll arrange to have a chat

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NEW: Right: See some of the wildlife hand-made and limited-run greetings cards being sold to raise money for the Rainforest Fund. These cards are produced by two GC members: Mark Boulton  (Animals and plants in UK and Africa) and Judith Allinson (Plants from UK and Yorkshire Dales) to be sold in aid of the Rainforest Fund. If you would like a selection to sell please contact Judith Allinson. Click for more examples and details