News

Following the devastating drought in Cape Town that almost led to Day Zero- when all the taps would be turned off, WWF have started a project to educate people about the importance of protecting groundwater. The initiative involves school education (via Greenpop), ground water monitoring, and Green Anglicans were invited to bring the faith aspect of protecting and valuing water. They started a program with youth of different churches called “water disciples”. The program is supported by the Danish Embassy. On the 9th of April, a few members of the Water Discipleship programme were invited to be part of a tour at Kirstenbosch gardens where we were fortunate enough to meet the Danish Ambassador. It was a beautiful summer day, and the day started off with everyone receiving a welcome pack before we had a welcome and introduction by Klaudia Schacht, WWF project co-ordinator. We then walked around Kirstenbosch and stopped at various spots in the garden, whereby all parties that are involved with the groundwater awareness campaign were able to share what their plans on creating awareness around the issue. Presentations ranged from the aspect of researching to IT systems to implementation of school programmes, as well as faith. Our presentation focused on the need of connecting our faith with caring for the cycle of water and the desire to see the church rise up in standing for protecting this precious resources. We also had one of the disciples Jamie Plaatjies share what she has learnt from the programme so far and why she joined the Water Discipleship Programme. The day ended with a talk by the Ambassador Tobias Elling Rehfeld, who shared the role of the Danish Embassy in supporting  such a project, after which we then had lunch. The day was filled with opportunities for networking as we got to engage with one another and share valuable insights and knowledge about our various views and projects. The Water Discipleship Programme continues until next year and we look forward to the continued support of the WWF and the Danish Embassy as we look to create awareness and impact communities.

GROW SPEKBOOM AS A SYMBOL OF YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE Bishop Joshua Louw has launched a Spekboom project as a symbol of spiritual growth for confirmation candidates. Each candidate is given a spekboom cutting which is then blessed. The spekboom remind the candidates that just as they need to be watered and cared for, so does our spiritual growth. We cannot grow if we don’t meet with other christians in worship and read our bibles and pray. Spekboom is becoming known as the miracle plant! It  helps to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by acting like a carbon sponge, improving the quality of air we breathe. More specifically, spekboom can absorb between four to ten tonnes of carbon per hectare, using carbon to make plant tissue and produce oxygen. “This remarkable plant is unique in that it stores solar energy to perform photosynthesis at night. This makes a spekboom thicket 10 times more effective per hectare at carbon fixing than any tropical rainforest.” (Spekboom foundation) It is also one of the easiest plants to grow because it doesn’t need formal planting. Simply break a piece off and stick it in the ground in an area that gets lots of sun. Spekboom also responds well to pruning and grows densely, making it an excellent, hardy hedge. In late winter and spring, this plant flowers bloom in beautiful pink. The flowers are rich in nectar, bringing beautiful birds to your garden. So far, confirmation candidates from St Martins Bergvleit, St Saviours Claremont and St George’s Silvertown and St Johns Belgravia have received spekboom to plant at home or at church The youth in this picture are from St Georges Silvertown. A big thankyou to St Barnabas Church, through their cell groups have been growing spekboom and gave Green Anglicans almost 300 spekboom which are being donated to the church  

Dear Church Times: On Earth day we received the devastating news that the Church Commission had decided to side against the climate activists on behalf of Shell. Their commitments are now lagging 20 years behind the Church of England commitment to net zero This sent a wave of disbelief, pain and anger amongst climate activists, young people and indigenous peoples. I want to speak of the impact of fossil fuel companies in my Province of Southern Africa. Fossil fuel companies see the future as a move from oil to gas – and they are targeting Southern Africa where they are exploring and exploiting more gas fields. In our Province we are currently facing two devastating issues.  In Namibia, Bishop Luke Pato woke up to discover that exploratory drilling by  Canadian company ReconAfrica had already started. Taking advantage of the COVID lockdowns, they had moved forward without the necessary environmental impact assessments. They had gained rights to drill for oil in more than 35,000 square kilometres of the Kavango Basin, an environmentally sensitive  protected area that supplies water to the Okavango Delta – a world Heritage site, one of the seven natural wonders of Africa. This exploration violates the rights of the San  and Kavango Indigenous people. The drilling threatens the groundwater of Namibia, the driest country south of the Sahara.  When the story was broken by the local newspaper, the Namibia, Recon Africa threatened to sue the newspaper. All the Bishops of our Province together with the two Canadian Archbishops have signed a protest petition. https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2021/03/anglican-bishops-call-for-a-halt-in-oil-drilling-in-namibia%E2%80%99s-kavango-basin.aspx An even worse scenario is taking place in Northern Mozambique – one of the poorest countries on this planet. Vast gas deposits have been found worth an estimated 60 billion dollars. The enormous projects have not benefitted the local communities, people have been forced off their land , and human rights abuses have taken place. This has created a boiling pot of resentment, where young men have been recruited into Al Shabaab. Horrific massacres have taken place, including beheadings of children as young as eleven. Over half a million people have fled the area and are living in desperate straits. The Diocese of Nampula is assisting hundreds of traumatised families. As Bishop Ernesto Manuel says – the violence only occurs in districts where the drilling takes place. For Climate activists in Africa, to hear that the Commissioners are siding with Shell is particularly painful to hear. For decades environmentalists have been battling with Shell in Nigeria’s Delta region. Human rights abuses, environmental degradation on an apocalyptic scale have been the result of Shell’s activities. The West Coast now has more piracy than the Horn of Africa, as young men, who have lost their livelihood as fishermen due to pollution in the Delta turn to piracy, making the West Coast of Africa now the global piracy hotspot. In South Africa a decade we have been fighting to stop Shell from “Fracking the Karoo” – one of the most water scarce areas in the country, where pollution of the groundwater sources risks destroying agriculture for generations to come. Oil companies are now targeting Southern africa as the environmental laws are much weaker than Europe. Sadly, politicians are often open for corruption. The local communities affected by the drilling are often hundreds even thousands of kilometres  away from the capital city. Rural and indigenous peoples often do not have land rights, the land being held by the local chief or governor who can hand those rights over to the oil companies if given incentives. The profits that the Church of England will make over the next thirty years come at the cost of human rights abuses, trampling of the rights of indigenous people, environmental degradation and pollution of water sources. Canon Rachel Mash Environmental Coordinator Anglican Church of Southern Africa Published in the Church Times, 30 May 2021 Image Amnesty International   Reference: An analysis of the violence in Mozambique https://gga.org/going-deep-into-mozambiques-cabo-delgado-extremism/#:~:text=In%20the%20case%20of%20Cabo,militants%20looking%20to%20recruit%20members.

EARTH DAY RESOURCES Resources from The Episcopal Church https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/liturgies_honoring_god_in_creation_sclm.pdf A Litany for Earth Day (United Methodist Church) https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Global-Ministries-Earth-Day-02021-Litany.pdf A sermon for Earth Day https://umcmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Global-Ministries-Earth-Day-2021-Sermon-transcript.pdf Creation Justice Ministries http://www.creationjustice.org/uploads/2/5/4/6/25465131/earthdaynewheavennewearth.pdf United Church of Canada https://united-church.ca/worship-special-days/earth-sunday