Facing the Issue: The Environment

Questions and Answers: Noel Allen gives a personal view

Why do you have such an interest in the environment - as a Christian?

I would like to say that I believe the Bible to be the Word of God for the following reasons:

• From my travels in the Middle East, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syrian I found the Bible to be geographically true.
• From my reading and discoveries I have found the Bible to be historically true.
• I find the Bible shows me the way of forgiveness and gives me an eternal hope through our Lord Jesus Christ - it is personally true.

So I have no difficulty in believing the first chapter of the Bible that tells us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth - and God saw that it was good." The environment is part of the handiwork of God, who has placed us here to gurd it and live by it (The Bible, Genesis chapter 1 verses 26-31). To spoil it or destroy it is to damage the very means of our liveleihood, and also the pleasure of being able to enjoy it and discover the mysteries and wonders of the natural world.

What steps have you been able to take to preserve and protect the local countryside?

I founded the Exmoor Natural History Society which now has nearly 500 members. With walks in spring and summer and with indoor lectures in winter, we are able to impress upon members and others who attend, the importance of guarding the wildlife and flowers of the countryside.

We have a Field Centre at Malmsmead in the Lorna Doone country, with displays and literature of the local wildlife which is freely open to the public and with conducted walks in the summer. We have conservation areas where there are nest boxes for birds and dormice, to encourage them to stay and breed safely in the area. We have published several books on Exmoor's flowers, mosses, birds, red deer, moths & butterflies, etc. and most importantly, after carefully recording what we saw for over 25 years we produced a check-list of nearly ten thousand species seen on Exmoor. This shows the local authorities what things are there and should be conserved, and the public can appreciate the wealth of Exmoor's wildlife.

What would you like to see churches and individual Christians doing to encourage/assist in preserving the environment?

Every year, we have a service at Oare Church to start our season and to show the link between the environment and our faith. This brings some members to church for the first time for many years. The service is followed by a tea which we provide in our Field Centre, where we can chat to the local folk about our work towards safeguarding the countryside. The important thing is to have a point of contact. The Society brings us into contact with folk who have no or little Christian faith and in times of distress we are able to tell them there is a God who cares. I would like to see other Societies/Clubs run on similar Christian lines.

Our members are from many different churches or none at all but all agree on the importance of safeguarding our environment. We have never had any disagreement on this point.

Noel Allen, 2002.