Photo: dccarbone

I’ve just been over on Bill Gerlach’s The New Pursuit where he has posted a brilliant story hitting the nail on the head about the frustration one can feel about the problems of the world. You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders but you can take small steps towards helping one cause or another.

One such cause he suggests, which really got me – and millions of others I expect – in the gut recently is the well known story of the construction of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingú river in the Amazon – home to thousands of native indigenous peoples, precious ecosystems and wildlife.

Photo: Toninho Muricy

Before emotion gets in the way, find out the facts here. Whichever way you look at it there’s only one thing that wins here and that’s the profit of a corporate bottom line.

There is perhaps no single larger system that supports life on Earth than the Amazon rainforest. What price can be put on the loss of biodiversity, ancestral heritage, displacement of indigenous communities, climate impact and undeniable devastation to life in the Amazon?

Kayapó leader on the Xingu River - Photo: Christian Poirier/Amazon Watch

With the state we’ve put this planet in and at a time when we’ve never needed to help it more – it’s so frustrating and hard to believe that these projects are still getting a look in by Governments with little consultation with the local communities that will be impacted the most.

Protests and law suits continue with this on again off again threat – industrial progress is difficult to stop. So what can you do?

Sign this petition and this petition

Join the campaign

Donate to keep the cause driving

…and pass it on!

About Ingrid Schroder

A Sydney-side freelance graphic designer, photographer & yoga teacher - I find myself turning to nature for guaranteed revival from the crazy pace of city life - be it digging in my garden, capturing natural beauty through a lens, floating in the ocean, practicing yoga or out exploring this incredible planet we all call home. Follow me on twitter @Cohabitaire