BRIDPORT will welcome a bishop from the Amazon rainforest today – to discuss the problems facing the South American landscape.

Saulo Mauricio de Barros will be in the market town on Monday, December 12 to talk about the church’s attempts to preserve the rainforest, which covers nine nations on the continent.

Anglican Bishop Saulo founded an Amazonian diocese stretching more than 1,000km from the mouth of the Amazon River towards Manaus, in Brazil.

He has worked on educational programmes in the country and received international recognition for his work, including an honorary doctorate at Huron University in Canada.

Saulo’s current church, called the Episcopal Church of Sta Maria, was built by an Englishman, the Reverend Arthur Miles Moss.

Moss, a relative of Bridport resident Dr Robert Hardwick, was a musician, artist and entomologist, and left a collection of 25,000 butterflies and moths to the Natural History Museum in London.

His recently published book, Vicar of the Amazon, chronicles the life of Moss, who in 1912 built what was the first Anglican church in the Amazon basin.

It was while researching this book that Philip made contact with Bishop Saulo.

Moss was also an artist, organist, singer and composer and had some of his compositions published in Britain, despite the difficulties of achieving this when he was stranded more than 5,000 miles away.

Most of this music has still not been performed although some will be put on for the first time in this country by Katherine Fuge, a Bridport resident.

Saving the Amazon and its Peoples will be at St Mary’s Church in South Street, Bridport at 2pm.

Admission is free but donations are encouraged to help the work of the Brazilian church.