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International Team

Between 1997 and 2000, A Rocha grew from one project (established in Portugal in 1983) to become an international organization coordinating work in eight countries, with several new initiative groups preparing to join the network. The International Team was established in 2000 and now, in 2013, is assisting nineteen national organizations. The Team has three main objectives:

To increase the capacity of the existing national organizations.
To foster the development of new organizations in other parts of the world.
To raise awareness, understanding and support worldwide.

The Team members are all part of local communities and endeavour to root their international work in local realities. They have no headquarters but live in six countries; sustain their relationships by meeting all together twice a year and as necessary in sub-groups; and take advantage of technology to cut down their travelling by extensive use of the internet and inexpensive phone deals.

What A Rocha is matters as much to the Team as what A Rocha does. In building this team the members have tried to keep A Rocha's distinctive values at the heart of the changes - they are summarised by the five commitments: Christian, Conservation, Community, Cross-cultural and Cooperation.

Founders: Peter and Miranda Harris Peter and Miranda founded A Rocha in 1983 and now share responsibility for shaping the organization's vision and ethos globally. More
Executive Director: Chris Naylor Chris has been Executive Director since April 2010. He joined A Rocha in 1997 working, until 2009, as Lebanon Director where he co founded the work. More
Director of Finance and Administration: David McKay BSc, FCA, CTA David is a chartered accountant and has accounting and finance experience in private practice as well as the commercial and charity sectors. His previous job was Head of Management Accounting at Aston University. More
Director of Science and Conservation: Martin Kaonga BSc, MSc, MPhil, PhD, CSci Martin is responsible for development and implementation of an international science and conservation strategy and ensuring that all global programmes are based on international scientific standards. Holding a PhD in environmental science from Cambridge University, Martin has worked extensively on broad issues of climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation in Africa. More
Director of Operations: Sarah French Sarah joins A Rocha International having been an International Trustee for the last 5 years. She comes to ARI with a background as a consultant, academic and practitioner in the fields of international development, sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity, conservation, business and sustainability. More
Advisor for Theology and Churches: Revd Dave Bookless MA, Cert Ed Dave has worked with A Rocha since 1997, first as an International Trustee, then from 2001 with A Rocha UK as co-founder (with his wife Anne), National Director, and then Director for Theology, Churches & Sustainable Communities. He joined the A Rocha International team in September 2011. More
Conservation Policy & Programmes Manager: Janice Weatherley MSc Janice has a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Environmental Policy. She is helping A Rocha to establish global conservation programmes by developing projects that bring together the work of several national organizations. More
Editor: Barbara Mearns Barbara produces A Rocha International News, the annual International Review, the monthly international e-mail newsletters and much of the website content. She also manages the Photo Database and is based in the UK. More
International Coordinator: Sarah Walker MA Sarah works within the Operations Directorate as a support for the National Organisations. She coordinates various international projects, such as the International Volunteer Database, the Team Leaders Forum and other events >> More
Alvor Campaign Coordinator: Tiago Branco PhD Tiago has been coordinating the campaign for the Alvor estuary since June 2007. See riadealvor.org . He graduated in Chemical Engineering and studied theology at a Baptist Seminary before joining a research group in Instituto Superior Técnico >> More
IT Officer and Corporate Counsel: Robert Thomas Rob provides solutions for computer needs in ARI and some of the other teams. He also is a legal adviser to the ARI Finance Committee. He is based in England and works part-time for A Rocha UK, not just with their computers, but also managing their Friends scheme. More
International Webmaster: Júlio Reis Júlio works part-time implementing all aspects of A Rocha's Internet strategy: advising the international management team on Internet-related issues; managing the websites and email; building A Rocha's websites and providing support and training to a growing number of national webmasters >> More
Producer, Film & Media: Melissa Ong As A Rocha's filmmaker since 2005, Mel helps to tell A Rocha stories through images and sound. She works with the communications team to produce materials and resources for web, print and video (find them on our Creation Care video resources page). More
Fundraising Manager/Communications Assistant: Sarah Young Sarah joined the International Team in September 2008, providing communications assistance to Barbara Mearns and Júlio Reis, particularly helping to upgrade the A Rocha websites. She now coordinates A Rocha's international fundraising efforts: everything from grant writing to building relationships with supporters >> More
Internet volunteer: Linda Sewell Linda provides assistance to our International Webmaster. She spends her time proofreading, and sometimes copy-editing, the collection of A Rocha websites. More