Greetings fellow Bioneers!
Starting today, Bioneers is releasing videos of the incredible keynote addresses from our 2018 conference. At this year’s inspiring gathering of leaders and activists from around the world, topics from Intelligence in Nature to transforming governance systems to youth led anti-violence campaigns were up for discussion. One of the pressing issues on people’s minds in light of the recent IPCC report was what to do about the ever-more-serious threat of climate change. In this week’s newsletter, we’ll feature two extremely inspiring talks and projects from this year’s conference: the amazing work being done by Ceibo Alliance to protect their land rights and the Ecuadorian Amazon, and the hope proffered by a bold new climate action plan presented by Justin Winters and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
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The Big Question: Conserve & Protect
There is unique life on each and every corner of the planet, from the Arctic to the tropics. One region of our Earth, however, is so densely packed with life that it accounts for a staggering 10 percent of all plant and animal life on Earth — that’s 40,000 plant species, 1,300 birds, millions of insects, and more than 400 mammals. It is also being destroyed at an alarming rate, losing nearly 20 percent of its area over the past 40 years. What is the name of this region that environmental scientists and activists alike are working to save?(Read to the bottoms of this email to find the answer.)
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Wise Words
“We know that there will always be people and companies that want to exploit our lands. That is true for all Indigenous nations across the Amazon. As Indigenous Peoples, we are the owners of more than 1.4 million square miles of primary rainforest. That is more than ten Californias. We have the historical and legal right to decide over the future of our territories. We must exercise that right. For centuries, our elders protected our rainforest homelands. Now it is our turn. Although my grandpa has never heard the phrase “climate change” he knows what’s at stake. The future of our people, our forest, and our planet.”
—Hernan Payaguaje, Ceibo Alliance leader, on his drive and responsibility to protect the Amazon Rainforest
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| Protecting the Amazon Rainforest from Industrial Development |
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Video to Watch: The Ceibo Alliance Isn’t Backing Down
In response to catastrophic assaults on their lands and cultures by corporate industrial civilization, the First Peoples of the Amazon have formed unprecedented alliances to protect lands and peoples. These four extraordinary Indigenous leaders, who help guide the Ceibo Alliance of several ancestral peoples of Ecuador’s northern Amazon, traveled far from their homes to share their stories of resistance and solutions. Learn more here. |
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This Week on Bioneers Radio & Podcast
If the rate of destruction doesn’t change, by the year 2020 most of the Amazon ecosystem – the lungs of the planet – will be destroyed or irreparably damaged. But not if these visionary leaders can help it. Amazon Watch founder Atossa Soltani has supported local indigenous peoples to protect the rainforest and their lifeways. Legendary rainforest champion Marina Silva, Brazil’s past Minister of the Environment, offers deep wisdom and vision.
Subscribe to the Bioneers podcast now: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube |
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Help Bioneers Continue This Important Work
We are thrilled to share that on Sunday, Azita Ardakani and Honeycomb Portfolio announced they would be matching donations to Bioneers, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000! Honeycomb Portfolio is a female-founded fund led by Bioneer Azita Ardakani, which invests in early-stage, nature-inspired, for-profit social enterprises. Support Bioneers now with Venmo or Paypal by giving to donate@bioneers.org or click the button below. |
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Don’t Miss: The Life Affirming Power of Indigenous Wisdom
With all of the information coming at us each day, it’s easy to get lost in the struggle to keep up, and even easier to lose sight of what it really takes to fulfill our hearts and minds: Not information, but wisdom. “You can’t Google wisdom,” says Dr. Anita Sanchez, the Aztec and Mexican-American author of the newly released paperback, The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times. In this book, Sanchez explains how to integrate indigenous wisdom through inspiring stories and spiritually energizing practices to live a deeply meaningful and happy life. Find out more about the book, and get your own copy here. |
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Person to Know: Justin Winters
How can humans halt the ever-more-intimidating threat of global climate change before catastrophic results? That’s the question Justin Winters and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation have sought to address. As the organization’s Executive Director, Winters has impressively built LDF’s global grantmaking program, awarding over $80 million to over 200 projects in 50 countries. At Bioneers 2018, Winters unveiled LDF’s ambitious global plan, the One Earth Plan, which aims to avert a climate crisis and protect our biosphere. Following is an excerpt from her keynote address:
Several years ago, we started reaching out to experts, scientists and thought leaders to discuss what it would take to both avert a climate crisis and ensure that our natural systems can continue to sustain life. Essentially, we wanted to know if there was a plan to save the planet and ourselves. It turns out, while there’s tons of research on the problems we face and an array of amazing solutions, there wasn’t a clear, scientifically backed plan that made this looming crisis feel solve-able. Originally our focus was developing a global plan to protect nature, but you can’t protect nature without also addressing climate change and making sure that humans have enough food and water to survive.
Turns out, as we have heard for many years at Bioneers: “It’s all connected.”
We commissioned research from over 20 top climate, energy, conservation and agriculture scientists around the world and arrived at a three-pillar plan, a vision for the planet that we call One Earth, where protecting nature plays a critical role.
It turns out that we can ensure that our global temperature doesn’t go above 1.5 degrees Celsius if we achieve three goals by 2050:
1. Transition our energy systems to 100 percent renewable energy
2. Protect, connect and restore 50 percent of our natural ecosystems on land and sea and,
3. Transform our agriculture systems to regenerative and carbon negative agriculture practices (or regenerate 50 percent of global working lands to build healthy soil for food and fiber production by 2050).
It’s an ambitious plan, but given what’s at stake – what other option is there? This is the moment when we are – as a movement and as a people – being asked to step up. Read more here. |
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Do Good: Take Action For the Environment
There’s no better time to lend your attention and resources to the organizations leading the fight to preserve our ecosystems than now. These two organizations are on a mission to conserve and protect our precious environment and its most threatened lands. Here’s how you can help:
Join the Waorani Resistance: In partnership with the Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines, the Waorani people of Ecuador need support to continue their fight against oil companies who would see the biodiverse Amazon Rainforest they’ve called home for centuries destroyed. Find out how you can help here.- Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation: With the mission of protecting all of Earth’s inhabitants, LDF knows what’s at stake when it comes to protecting the health and wellbeing of our environment. The organization is committed to protecting ecosystems that are under threat of annihilation to ensure they’re still around for generations to come. Here’s how you can get involved.
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What We’re Tracking:
In an exciting new nonprofit collaboration, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jane Goodall’s eponymous organizations teamed up to launch a clothing linethat supports ape conservation. Oh, and all the clothing is vegan! (Lauren Wills via Live Kindly) -
- In her latest book, How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals, Sy Montgomery explores what her career spent connecting to the natural world and its many inhabitants—from octopus to emu—has taught her. Read excerpts from the book here. (Maria Popova via Brain Pickings)
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The Big Question, Answered: Shattering the Status Quo
The Amazon Rainforest is the planet’s most biodiverse region, spanning 2.6 million miles from Brazil, through nine countries in Central and South America. It’s also home to hundreds of thousands of Indigenous peoples who rely on the rainforest for sustenance, protection, and resources each and every day — and have spent millennia protecting it. The threats to the Amazon are devastating for all life depending on the forest for survival, but also for the rest of the planet — the Amazon is one of the world’s major carbon sinks. Find out more about the Amazon Rainforest, and how you can help protect the forest and its inhabitants by engaging with Amazon Frontlines, Amazon Watch, and Greenpeace. |
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