EarthAction

Please sign on to protect a forest and Indigenous rights in Cambodia

Mao Chanthoeun and hundreds of other Kuy villagers call themselves Cambodia's "avatars." Like the Na'vi people in the "Avatar" film, the Kuy are defending their forest against mining and other destructive practices. Photo by Samrang Pring, Reuters.

In Cambodia, some 200,000 mostly Indigenous Kuy villagers are desperately trying to preventthe destruction of Prey Lang ("Our Forest"), the last large primary forest of its kind on the Indochina peninsula. Generations of Kuy people have protected the forest with its sacred areas, places for gathering fruits, medicinal plants, housing materials, and resin. Some 300 villages and family rice fields are scattered through a large buffer zone of secondary forest that surrounds Prey Lang. Their use of forest resources is sustainable, but now their livelihoods and the life of the forest are under attack.

The government has issued a dizzying patchwork of land concessions to road builders, mining companies, and agro-industries. Bulldozers are slicing huge swaths through the forest, clear-cutting enormous blocks of land for rubber and other plantations. Studies show that Indigenous forest-dwelling communities do the best job of protecting forests. Our best bet for saving Prey Lang is to support the Kuy people's rights and their management of the forest they know best. 

Join us:  

Global Response, the action program of Cultural Survival, and EarthAction, a global network of over 2,000 organizations, are working together in support of the Prey Lang Community Network to protect and save their forest. On our websites below you can find links to communicate with Cambodian officials to urge them to cancel existing land concessions and create a sustainable management program with the permanent participation of the Prey Lang peoples. We ask your organization to please share this information widely, with other organizations, with your members, and in your newsletters.

How You Can Help:  

Below is a sign-on letter for organizations, available in PDF here.  Please add your organization, and help the Kuy people protect the unique and threatened Prey Lang forest. To sign on, please email Danielle@cs.org by January 31  and include the name of the signee, organization, and country you are based in.   

For more information and online action pages, please see visit: 

Cultural Survival, EarthAction, and Prey Lang Community Network. 

Sincere thanks and good wishes to you in your important work for our planet and all its peoples. 

Lois Barber, Director 

EarthAction Network

PO Box 63

Amherst, MA 01004

Tel +413 549 8118

 

Paula Palmer, Director               

Global Response Program                   

Cultural Survival, Inc.                      

PO Box 7490                              

Boulder CO 80306 USA                   

Tel +303/444-0306

 _____________________________________________________________  

Dear Ambassador Kosal Sea, Prime Minister Samech Hun Sen,   

 

As international human rights and environmental organizations, we are deeply concerned that Cambodia has lost almost all of its primary forests.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, primary forests covered 70 percent of Cambodia's land mass just 40 years ago. Tragically, these magnificent forests have shrunk to only 3.1 percent of the nation's territory today. One of the remaining forests, Prey Lang, is in danger of being lost as more and more concessions are granted to agro-industries and mining companies.

 

Prey Lang's rich store of biological diversity, unique on the Indochina peninsula, is reason enough to protect it. But there are other reasons, as well.  Over 200,000 people depend on the forest as a source of fruits, nuts, medicinal plants, housing materials, clean drinking water, fish, and resin. Prey Lang provides ecological services that benefit millions of people, serving as a vital source of water for Cambodia's rice-growing region and for the Mekong Delta. 

The people who live in villages surrounding Prey Lang have banded together to save the forest.  Many of these people are Indigenous Kuy, whose rights are specified in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  As an endorser of the Declaration, Cambodia acknowledges Indigenous Peoples' right to free, prior, and informed consent for projects that affect their lands and livelihoods, yet the Kuy have not been consulted concerning land concessions in and surrounding Prey Lang. Indeed, they have clearly demonstrated their opposition to the land concessions through public protests and petitions.

As supporters of environmental protection and Indigenous Peoples' rights, the following organizations join the Prey Lang Network in urging you to cancel existing land concessions and other development projects in the greater Prey Lang area, ban new concessions, and create a sustainable management program with the permanent participation of the Prey Lang Network.

Thank you for considering the views of the international community, recognizing our common commitment to environmental protection and human rights.

 

Respectfully, 

(list of organizations)

_____________________________________________________________

Does the Kuy people's situation sound familiar?

If your organization represents or partners with Indigenous communities that are struggling to prevent environmental destruction and defend their rights, learn how to request a Global Response Campaign here. Click here to receive Global Response action alerts by email.

If you'd like more information about becoming a Partner Organization in the EarthAction Network and receiving action alerts on global environment, development, peace and human rights issues, click here to JOIN EarthAction. 

Cultural Survival's Global Response Program organizes effective international letter-writing campaigns to protect the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples.  See action alerts for adults and youth at www.cs.org

Click here to view and share EarthAction's email action alert.

Make a Year End Donation to EarthAction

This year, I’m going to be singing your praises a lot. 

2012 is EarthAction’s 20th Anniversary, and believe me, when I talk about who deserves the credit for this unique organization, supporters like you will be at the top of the list.  It’s a simple fact that EarthAction wouldn’t exist without your help.

And right now, there is an urgent situation that requires EarthAction.

The situation is truly desperate. Cambodia's Prey Lang (pronounced ‘Pray Long’) forest, the last large primary forest of its kind on the Indochinese peninsula, is at great risk of being destroyed. About 200,000 people, mostly indigenous Kuy, live in or around the forest and are dependent on it for their livelihoods and culture. The Prey Lang Community Network is fighting to save Prey Lang and has asked EarthAction for our help.

Their story is a lot like the movie ‘Avatar’. The local forest people have repeatedly petitioned the Cambodian government to protect the forest. Instead, the government is allowing companies, the military, and illegal groups to make a profit by destroying it.

The best hope for saving Prey Lang is if people around the world contact Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in support of the requests of the local Kuy communities. We need to let Hun Sen know the whole world is watching, and urge him to do everything in his power to protect the Prey Lang forest.

Your help now will enable us in January to produce over 3,000 Action Kits about the Prey Lang forest and distribute them to our Partner Organizations and key contacts in over 165 countries. By providing ‘ready-to-use’ materials to these organizations, our Action Kits will  generate increased, focused, effective action right where it is needed—when it is needed.

Saving the Prey Lang forest will be the best way we can start EarthAction’s 20th Anniversary year. And your generous donation of $50, 100, $250, $1,000 or more will have an effect far beyond its amount because it will help generate action from thousands of people around the globe.

I will be so grateful for you help.

Prey Lang is the most urgent, but it is not the only issue we’ll be tackling in 2012.  With your help, we we’ll continue with the other environment, peace, and justice issues you care about, including:

·      Climate stabilization
·      The 20th Anniversary of the Earth Summit
·      Securing the world’s nuclear stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium
·      Keeping the U.S. from expanding production at 3 nuclear weapons facilities and building more nuclear bombs
·      Educating children, especially girls, worldwide
·      Protecting the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) from Congressional attacks that will weaken its ability to protect our land, air, water, and our health.

 In addition, in 2012, EarthAction will continue to be the sponsor of the Elder’s Project preserving and continuing the wisdom knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of Colombia.

We will also continue to sponsor the highly effective 2020 Action, sending out monthly Action postcards on peace and the environment throughout the U.S.

This is the time of year when many of us make our most significant donations.  I hope you’ll include EarthAction on your list of meaningful causes to support. 

Sincerely,

Lois Barber
Co-founder& President
EarthAction

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UPDATE ON KHIMKI: Protestors filing lawsuit against builders of highway that would destroy Khimki Forest

Here's an update from our friends at Movement to Defend Khimki Forest. Lawmakers have proposed narrowing the planned highway through the Khimki Forest from four lanes to two lanes, but that simply wouldn't be enough to save the rich wildlife, endangered species, and beloved birch trees from deforestation. The Movement to Defend Khimki Forest is now filling a lawsuit against the highway builders, PO 'DorInzhStroyProyect' LLC in an effort to save the threatened ecosystem. Please read more below.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lawsuit against PO 'DorInzhStroyProyect' LLC

November 3, 2011 
Press release 

Due to Khimki Forest defenders’ struggle, the width of the road on the main sections of Moscow – St. Petersburg toll motorway has been cut from 8 to 4 traffic lanes and now is 26 meters (http://princip1.livejour nal.com/17998.html). However, it can’t help solve the problem of destruction of Khimki Forest as an ecosystem.

The main task of forest defenders remains the revision of construction project and the change of the motorway’s route to spare Khimki Forest. The independent expertise has shown the existence of over 10 alternative variants for the route of Moscow – St. Petersburg motorway, which can solve the existing transport crisis on the territory of Khimki town district.

Our suit must show the total uselessness of road construction across Khimki Forest.

The builders have themselves accepted the absurd nature of the road, when they have got permission for construction of the motorway with 4 traffic lanes. It proves once more that the road isn’t destined for solution of transport problem, but rather for theft of budget funds.

PO ‘DorInzhStroyProyect’ LLC during preparation works for road construction has used budget funds, while the income from the toll motorway will go to private NWCC LLC, partly belonging to oligarch Arkady Rotenberg (http://www.ecmo.ru/data/Jul2011/Vinci_a_cover_for_oligarchs_ru.pdf).

The contractor in violation of permission fo r construction has felled the opening more than 100 meters wide, that is 4 times more than written in the project.

This violation became possible due to belated receipt of permission for construction and the lack of state construction supervision. The developer in violation of acting town planning legislation didn’t inform authorized organs on the beginning of construction works and was fined for that on 100000 ruble (http://princip1.livejournal.com/18829.html).

At the moment of the cutting the developer lacked (besides permission for construction) an order for fulfillment of ground works and a cutting ticket.

Most transport problems arise due to the lack of unified town planning policy. For example, there is no acting general plan today in Khimki (http://princip1.livejournal.com/22224.html).

The old general plan, which acted in town Khimki until 2009, didn’t include the toll motorway Moscow – St. Petersburg on the route, where the opening was later cut. We believe that the lack of the general plan in Khimki is among the causes, why the developers cut 4 times more forest area, than they should have done according to the project.

We intend to suit PO ‘DorInzhStroyProyect’ LLC in the court. 

For more information, visit:

Movement to Defend Khimki Forest
www.khimkiforest.org
www.ecmo.ru

Map Photo by OpenStreetMap Contributors
Protester Photo by Daniel Beilinson/Coalition "For the Forests of Moscow Region!"

UPDATE: Cultural Survival/Global Response Selects the Prey Lang Issue for its Next Campaign

In August, EarthAction brought global attention to the Prey Lang forest issue in Cambodia. The Cambodian government is allowing companies, the military, and illegal groups to make a profit by destroying the ancient Prey Lang forest. Indigenous Kuy communities, who live in or around Prey Lang, have been fighting to protect the forest, the source of their livelihoods and culture.

We are very pleased that the Prey Lang issue has been selected as the next Cultural Survival/Global Response campaign. Cultural Survival, an organization with a consultative status with the United Nations, has partnered with indigenous communities around the world to help them defend their cultures, lands, and languages for nearly 40 years. Just like EarthAction, Global Response was launched at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Cultural Survival's Global Response Program will develop a campaign that will include action alerts, maps, photos, and additional articles and links to other websites and resources for the campaign. The action alerts will also be published in the winter issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly magazine, which will be released in mid-December.

For more information about Cultural Survival's Global Response Program activities, please visit www.cs.org

Avatar Activists Photograph by: AFP, Tang Chhin Sothy

Spreading The Word On Biochar

by: Alexandra Reissig

What if there existed a material that could help solve world hunger, fight climate change, and offer a solution for energy shortages to boot? Recent studies on biochar say that it may be just the product, and here’s the kicker: it has been around for at least 2,000 years. It is a solid material produced from the carbonization of organic waste. Extremely high in carbon content, its uses range from replenishing exhausted soil to sequestering excess CO2 out of the atmosphere. Recent discoveries into its uses, both locally and globally, have shown it to be a viable material for an environmentally sustainable future.

Biochar is essentially charcoal, produced when biomass is heated in a low oxygen environment in a pyrolysis process. This process takes dry biomass and heats it at extreme temperatures and at a very low oxygen level. It is very similar to what happens naturally to soil that has been exposed to forest fires: the charred remains are more healthy and nutrient rich. Of the total amount of carbon that goes into the pyrolysis process, half goes into an energy carrying system that can be generated into biofuel. The other half of the carbon is fixed in biochar: a charcoal-like material that can be used as fertilizer to help increase crop yields, prevent run-off of nutrients and fertilizers, retain moisture in the soil and replenish exhausted soils with organic carbon.

Featured Partner Organization: Earth Protect

Earth Protect

Earth Protect, Inc. was established in 2007 by a team of Grant Barbeito, a filmmaker and co-owner and founder of Plant it Film Productions, and Carol Barbeito, a recognized expert in leading and managing organizations. Earthprotect.com is a worldwide social networking web site for those interested in the environment with a focus on visitor uploaded and linked videos. These videos are meant to raise awareness worldwide to inspire actions toward achieving a more sustainable and healthy environment. Earth Protect’s mission is to connect individuals, communities, government and organizations on environmental issues through multi-media channels.

Earth Protect’s web site will:

• Increase awareness of the need to adapt behaviors to the changing environment
• Empower users through the process of creating and sharing videos and films on the environment
• Connect people to resources for environmental information and organizations
• Lead activists to more informed action
  

Earth Protect also helps people find green businesses from which they can obtain needed services and goods.

For more information about Earth Protect and its activities, please visit: www.EarthProtect.com

Sponsorship for Journalists to Attend the UNCCD COP 10, Changwon, Republic of Korea

Media Alert: Sponsorship for Journalists to Attend the UNCCD COP 10, Changwon, Republic of Korea

The UNCCD secretariat will sponsor the participation of a total of four developing country journalists, drawn from the Africa, Asia & the Pacific and the Latin America & the Caribbean regions, to the tenth session of the Conference of the Parties that will take place in Changwon, Republic of Korea, from 10-21October 2011. The secretariat will cover the travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the conference.

Journalists wishing to be considered for such sponsorship should submit the following:
a) An article with their byline on one of the issues covered by the Convention, specifically, combatting desertification and land degradation and mitigating the effects of drought
b) an article with their byline that has been published in a reputable media outlet; a global media outlet is a distinct advantage
c) a letter of support from the journalist’s bureau chief or primary media for which they are reporting

Applications received by midnight, Friday, 30 September 2011, will be considered. The candidates selected will be informed by Monday, 3 October 2011. As indicated in the registration document, applicants should be able to travel so as to arrive in Changwon by 9 October 2011.

The candidates selected will participate in a half-day media briefing on the COP10 session, which will take place from 8:30am-12:45pm on Monday, 10 October. Independence of the media is guaranteed in the coverage of the COP10 session, but journalists are expected to dedicate their time to the coverage the event.

Requests for sponsorship should be emailed to: press@unccd.int, with the following subject line: Application for Sponsorship to UNCCD COP10.

Join us in Northampton, MA to End Holyoke Coal

Special Local Action: Retire the Coal Plant in Holyoke, MA

We at EarthAction don't typically send out emails about local campaigns. However, we thought this one was so important to the Pioneer Valley that we decided to send it to our Western Mass partners. Please see the email below from our friends at the Northampton Sierra Club. Tonight is the kickoff for their Beyond Coal campaign to finally retire the dirty, aging coal plant in Holyoke, MA and replace it with clean, renewable energy. We hope that you'll join us for tonight's meeting!

                                                 - With Peace and Love, Lois Barber

​--------------​--------------​--------------​--------------​--------------​-----

Do you care about clean, healthy air? How about creating local green jobs?

Then join us for…  

Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Kickoff Meeting!

Tuesday, September 27th
7:00 – 8:00 PM

@ the Media Education Foundation

60 Masonic Street #A
(next to Woodstar Cafe)
**Refreshments provided**

Coal is dirty, dangerous and outdated. The Mt. Tom coal plant in Holyoke, MA is over 50 years old and releases toxins like mercury and sulfur dioxide. These toxins are a threat to our health and environment. In Holyoke alone, where the plant resides, asthma rates are more than double the state average and everyone that lives within 30 miles of the plant is at risk. Northampton, Amherst, Easthampton, Hadley and South Hadley are all high risk communities. The Pioneer Valley has the right to clean air and water, and deserves renewable energy and clean jobs. Right now, the Pioneer Valley has the chance to transition from coal to further investments in energy efficiency, wind and solar—and the Governor is a key actor.

Pioneer Valley supporters of clean air are working to replace coal with renewables in Western Massachusetts, and are hoping to convince Governor Deval Patrick to join them. Join us on Tuesday to learn more about the local Beyond Coal campaign to move the Pioneer Valley beyond coal and how to get involved!

The event is free and open to the public. Speakers include Jane Andresen of the Alliance for a Healthy Holyoke, Drew Grande of Massachusetts Beyond Coal, and more.

What You Can Do

Please RSVP for the Kick-Off Meeting by clicking here.

Send the Governor an email right now! Check it out here: 
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=7053

To learn more about how you can get involved, please contact:
Savannah Sullivan
p) 513-317-1456
e) Savannah[at] greencorps.org

 

Save the Prey Lang Forest in Cambodia

In this International Year of the Forest, please help save Cambodia's Prey Lang (pronounced ‘Pray Long’) forest, the last large primary forest of its kind on the Indochinese peninsula. About 200,000 people, mostly indigenous Kuy, live in or around the forest and are dependent on it for their livelihoods and culture.

Attacks on the forest and its peoples are accelerating. Plantation and mining companies are clear-cutting and mining Prey Lang’s community-use forest areas and its ancient forest areas. New roads are ushering in migrants and illegal loggers.

 

The Prey Lang Community Network, mostly indigenous Kuy communities, is fighting to save Prey Lang. It has repeatedly petitioned the Cambodian government to protect the forest and cooperate with the Network for its sustainable management. Instead, the government is allowing companies, the military, and illegal groups to make a profit by destroying the forest. Most of the wood from Prey Lang is smuggled into China and Vietnam where it is made into furniture and exported worldwide.

At this point, the best hope for saving Prey Lang is if people around the world contact Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in support of the requests of the local Kuy communities. Let him know that the whole world is watching, and urge him to do everything in his power to protect the Prey Lang forest.

“We Kuy have been here for generations, and the forest did not disappear,” Ru Lark, Network member and elder, said. “We know how to take care of it but now, with new developments, we need the government’s help to protect and manage the forest in a sustainable way.”

Prey Lang has seven distinct ecosystems including a unique primordial swamp forest. Its biodiversity is exceptionally high. As a primary watershed regulating water and sediment flow to the Tonle Sap Basin, and as an important fish spawning area, Prey Lang is vital for Cambodia’s long-term environmental sustainability and for food and water security. Left standing, the Prey Lang forest has among the highest carbon sequestration values in the region, and is a powerhouse for fighting global warming.

Cambodia’s Forest Administration has identified Prey Lang as an important area for conservation, with high potential for carbon-credit financing. But the fact that Prey Lang remains unprotected calls this plan into question.

In early 2011, almost 400 Prey Lang Network activists from around the forest converged on company sites to advocate against their clearing. They maintained a vigil for three days but eventually disbanded when food and water supplies were cut and they were surrounded by hundreds of armed personnel.

But they have not given up. They want, and need, you to join them.

“In our language, Prey Lang means 'our forest',” activist Phai Vun Leang explained. “This forest is for everyone.  Prey Lang is YOUR forest, too. You can help save it.”

 

Take Action!

Contact Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and urge him to:

• Suspend all logging and mining concessions in the greater Prey Lang area
• Confer Prey Lang with protected status and enforce its protection
• Replant already cleared areas of the forest
• Commit to sustainably managing the forest in cooperation with the Prey Lang Community Network.

Please ‘cc’ your message to the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Ministers, and to EarthAction. See below for a sample letter.

CONTACTS

Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen can be contacted via the Council of Ministers:
Emails: pressocm@gmail.com; info@khmergovernmentoffice.org
Fax:  (855) 23 212 409

CC -- To Make Your Action More Effective, Copy Your Email to the Addresses Below:

Minister of Environment:  H.E. Dr. Mok Mareth
Email: moe-cabinet@camnet.com.kh
Fax: (855) 23 427844

Minister of Agriculture, Forests, and Fisheries:  H.E. Chan Sarun
Email: icomaff@camnet.com.kh
Fax: (855) 23 217320 / 215982

Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy: H.E. Suy Sem
Email: mine@cambodia.gov.kh
Fax: (855) 23 428263

Minister of Water Resources & Meteorology:  H.E. Lim Kean Hor
Email: mowram@cambodia.gov.kh
Fax: (855) 23 426345

EarthAction Email: PreyLang@earthaction.org
Fax: +1 (413) 256 8871

FOLLOW UP ACTIONS:
In addition to contacting Prime Minister Hun Sen directly (with copies to his Ministers), which is the most effective action you can take, you can also click here to sign a petition to save Prey Lang. 

You are also invited on 18 August to join Cambodians and others around the world to “Pray Long for Prey Lang.” This remarkable initiative will include thousands of people from more than 130 communities in Cambodia and every religious tradition and walk of life. In Cambodia, Prey Lang community members will appear as “Avatars” in blue paint.  Participating communities will upload photos and videos of their events online. You too can organize a small event to pray for Prey Lang and the people of Cambodia. Your photos and videos can be sent to: preylangmedia@gmail.com

For more information on Prey Lang and the Prey Lang Community Network, please visit: https://ourpreylang.wordpress.com/ and join the “Prey Lang- It’s My Forest Too” Facebook group.

Avatar Activist Photograph By: SAMRANG PRING/REUTERS

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, 

I am writing to you to urge you to do everything in your power to protect the Prey Lang forest which is an important resource for the people of Cambodia, of Southeast Asia, and of the world. 

The forest provides a home and livelihood for the almost 200,000 members of the Kuy community who depend upon it for their culture. 

In addition, Prey Lang has great environmental importance with its seven distinct ecosystems including a unique primordial swamp forest, and its great bio-diveristy. It is also a primary watershed regulating water and sediment flow to the Tonle Sap Basin, and is an important fish spawning area, Prey Lang is vital for Cambodia’s long-term environmental sustainability and for food and water security. Left standing, the Prey Lang forest has among the highest carbon sequestration values in the region, and is a powerhouse for fighting global warming. 

I ask you to take the following actions: 

--Suspend all logging and mining concessions in the greater Prey Lang area

--Confer Prey Lang with protected status and enforce its protection

--Replant already cleared areas of the forest

--Commit to sustainably managing the forest in cooperation with the Prey Lang Community Network.

Please let me know what you will do to protect this important resource. The whole word is watching and hoping for your environmental and human rights leadership. 

Sincerely, 

[Your name]

[Your organization, if appropriate]

 

I AM the Documentary - The "Shift" Hits the Fan

I recently saw a new documentary that I felt spoke to the heart of EarthAction's mission. It comes from filmmaker Tom Shadyac, who asks “what’s wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better?” It is a drastic departure from the titles he is best known for, such as Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura, and The Nutty Professor.

In 2007, Mr. Shadyac was in a cycling accident that left him with a chronic and debilitating condition called Post-Concussion Syndrome. This chronic condition forced him to come face-to-face with his own mortality: “Death can be a very powerful motivator…. If this is it for me – if I really am going to die  –  what do I want to say before I go?  What will be my last testament?”

Shadyac goes on to sell his art-filled mansion and embarks on a “twenty-first century quest for enlightenment,” traveling the world in search of truth. What he found was a far cry from his previous A-list lifestyle.

Throughout the film, we see him speak with such luminaries as Desmond Tutu, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Lynne McTaggart, Coleman Barks, and Thom Hartmann, to name a few. “I didn’t want to hear the usual answers, like war, hunger, poverty, the environmental crisis, or even greed,” he explains.  “These are not the problems, they are the symptoms of a larger endemic problem.  In I AM, I wanted to talk about the root cause of the ills of the world, because if there is a common cause, and we can talk about it, air it out in a public forum, then we have a chance to solve it.”

I AM is an eye-opening journey of self-discovery intended to make us rethink ourselves and our place in the world. It asks deep questions in an attempt to find what is wrong with the world and, more importantly, what we can do to make it better.

 

At EarthAction, these are the questions that we want to explore. No two of our partner organizations are exactly alike, and yet we are all joined by the common goal of a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world. I AM's message of cooperation and interconnectedness reinforces the idea that as individuals and organizations, we must work together despite superficially disparate missions.

“The solution begins with a deeper transformation that must occur in each of us,” Shadyac explains. “I AM isn’t as much about what you can do, as who you can be.  And from that transformation of being, action will naturally follow.”

I Am was, to me, an inspiring film and a timely reminder of the need for action and cooperation. I hope it will be the same for you. You can find movie times and more about the film at: http://www.iamthedoc.com/. - Lois