Dear friend of A Rocha,

Are you noticing the change of season where you live? When I first moved to Southern California, I thought it was a place without seasons: just temperate paradise all year round. Now that I’ve begun exploring the native plants in my area, I see that seasonal changes are actually quite pronounced! The flowers of California Buckwheat turn from white to a warm rust, California Fuchsia blazes with color, and Monarch butterflies enjoy thriving patches of Narrow Leaf Milkweed. Seeing these changes helps me appreciate each moment of the year and delight in the movement of God’s creation: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

I’ve been empowered by the Love Your Place book club discussion on Nature’s Best Hope to champion the cause of native plant landscapes. The biodiversity crisis impacts all of us, but we can all take action to help: Douglas Tallamy asserts that if every American homeowner replaced just their front lawn with native plants, we would create 20 million acres of highly productive ecosystems: a “home-grown national park.” Below, you can read about A Rocha USA’s work in Central Texas to restore a healthy ecosystem in the Bull Creek Watershed through invasive plant removal. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by dire statistics on biodiversity loss, climate change, and waste. So many of the landscapes around me are flooded with invasive plants that do little to support life. But when I spend time in a healthy landscape, even if it’s just the few plants I can fit in my backyard, I feel at peace. I know that God loves these places and creatures immeasurably more than I do. Reflecting on God’s love, which manifests in creation, Saint Julian of Norwich put it this way: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

Whether it's planting native plants, participating in the International Coastal Cleanup, or adopting a new sustainable habit, we all have a part to play in caring for creation. Thank you for joining us on this journey of loving, knowing, protecting, and restoring people and places.

With joy, 

Autumn Ayers
Social Media and Content Coordinator
A Rocha USA

Act Locally

Protecting Bull Creek, a Central Texas treasure

The Bull Creek watershed, located in Austin, has been called “the Galapagos of Texas” by locals due to its ecological diversity and geological features. With an 11-mile spring-fed creek dotted with waterfalls and swimming holes, limestone seeps, and scenic cliffs, the watershed is home to more than 600 native plant species. The endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Jollyville Plateau Salamander are just a few examples of Bull Creek’s diverse and unique fauna. Native species still find suitable habitats in the watershed despite the ever-increasing pressure of urban development. 

The Stenis tract is a 57-acre parcel of Water Quality Protection Land located in Upper Bull Creek and the focus of A Rocha USA restoration efforts in Central Texas. In collaboration with the Bull Creek Foundation, we are managing invasive plant species that threaten the health of the riparian forest, the wooded area adjacent to the creek. 

Managing invasive plant species at the Stenis tract is a community effort. It requires combining scientific knowledge, local expertise, and many determined volunteers. When we started the restoration project in 2021, we knew invasive plants existed at the tract, but we did not know the extent of the infestation.

Think Globally

A celebration of bird ringing!

While celebrating 40 years of conservation work, we have another major milestone to share this year: around the world, A Rocha has ringed over 250,000 birds! 

When A Rocha was founded, bird studies were the first way that we began to understand the Algarve in Portugal. In their vulnerable position at the top of an ecosystem, birds are good indicators of an environment’s health, and are captivating to experts and novices alike. The bird ringing programme at Cruzinha began in 1987, and we now have programmes in the Czech Republic, Kenya and France, as well as ringing in Canada, the UK, Lebanon and South Africa over the years.

Ringing allows scientists to track bird migration, and after 40 years we have collected a wealth of information. Ringing involves putting a small ring (or band) on an individual bird’s leg. The ring will be numbered and will typically have the address of the ringing scheme, so that if that bird is found, its whereabouts can be reported.

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