Peter Harris: retirement and a new chapter - A Rocha InternationalA Rocha International

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Peter Harris: retirement and a new chapter

The A Rocha family has been pouring out their thanks and appreciation to Peter Harris, co-Founder and President of A Rocha, as he began his retirement last month.

After working as an English teacher and then an Anglican clergyman, Peter and his wife Miranda moved to Portugal in 1983 to establish and run A Rocha’s first field study centre and bird observatory. In the years that followed, they oversaw the establishment of two other centres in France and travelled extensively to resource the growing movement of Christians active in nature conservation. In 2010, Peter and Miranda moved back to be based in the UK for family reasons but continued their work of sharing A Rocha’s Christian approach to conservation with many across a wide range of backgrounds around the world.

Following the accident last October that took Miranda’s life – as well as A Rocha International’s Executive Director, Chris Naylor, and his wife Susanna – Peter’s retirement has taken on a different character. He continues to recover from the injuries sustained in the accident and is grateful to be able to drive again, particularly as he recently began living on his own. And he is looking forward to a new incarnation of his role with A Rocha, now in a voluntary capacity. At the moment, this is particularly focused on raising support for some of the national organizations most affected by COVID-19, but has also involved some online and filmed speaking and teaching.

‘Life as an A Rocha volunteer is really rewarding,’ he says, ‘not least as so many friendships go back a long way. So it is very good to be able to stay in touch.’

We are thankful for him and the faithful ministry of Peter and Miranda over so many years.

Our thanks to Laity Lodge for producing this short film, in which Peter shares his reflections on life since the accident: