Earth Day 2017

“It is curious that the Amazon, so large in our minds, is actually quite small. From far above on a clear day— the God’s-eye view from a plane— the jungle looks like moss across an endless field. Even the clouds are far below, barely over the canopy, like bits of cotton blown across some lawn— or like mothers doting over the greenery, carefully watering the jungle from above. From so high up, the great jungle can be seen for what it really is: a very delicate collection of life on the smooth face of a planet. The greatest of its creatures become microbes, the great trees are reduced to lichen— even the bipedal primates that are so clever seem small and insignificant, save for the great scars they cut into the green. Cleverness is evident in this grand exploitation, but it will take a different kind of intelligence to preserve the whole and heal the wounds. And so the question becomes whether this one species can rise from cleverness to actual intelligence; to evolve from being a blight on the great basin to become instead the greatest of its stewards. But that remains to be seen.”
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Paul Rosolie. Mother of God (Kindle Locations 3918-3921). @harpercollinsus Kindle Edition.
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Visit to Florida and Seminole State College for the Amazon

Just had the most incredible time at Seminole State College! I got to meet so many great people and we were all together for the same reason: to celebrate the Amazon and plan a healthy future for wildlife and people both. It's a strange thing how writing a book starts chapters in other people's lives, and continues to add new friends and chapters to mine. This was an amazing experience. 

World Wildlife Day: Why We Need Animals

Without plants and animals, our lives would not be possible. Oxygen, clean water and soil, and our earliest tools, food, and clothing came from flora and fauna. Even our fossil fuels are the result of Paleozoic Era ecosystems that captured the sun's energy-the same energy that we are now using billions of years later. Yet increasingly, we fail to acknowledge the tens of thousands of creatures with whom we cohabitate, the wildlife upon whom our very existence is contingent.

Throughout our development, our oceans and rivers have provided us with fish; grasslands and forests have provided us with bushmeat; plants that we cultivated became staple fruits and vegetables; ecosystems ensured reliable weather and clean water. We domesticated some wild animals to become our livestock, providing milk, meat, and clothing. Wild canines developed over the years to become dogs, our hunting partners and bodyguards, our most effective alarm system in the night. Throughout those early ages, just like today, our world's fruiting trees and forests were pollinated by bats and birds, squirrels and bees. And from these forests we built houses for shelter, fires to keep us warm, ships that would take us across oceans, books that carried our hard-earned knowledge. 

As science progresses we continue to draw inspiration from our wild relatives -- a bird's wing, a spider's web, the complex architecture of ants. Through biomimicry, the innovations of wildlife have allowed us to develop technology that improves our lives, and to create medicines that save millions of people annually. We derive blood pressure medication from viper venom and borrow insulin from the pancreases of pigs. Each year we borrow 500,000 horseshoe crabs from the wild to harvest their blood (they are later released back into the wild); the baby-blue blood can detect and immobilize bacterial contamination even at concentrations as low as one part per trillion. (If you've ever had an injection in the U.S., you were protected because of the blood of these prehistoric-looking sea creatures).

Continue Reading: Click Here

Half of the Worlds Wildlife Gone

The internet is lit up today with news from the recent WWF announcement that roughly HALF of the worlds vertebrate species have vanished in the last 40 years. It is a devastating figure. But it should not come as a surprise. The massive over-fishing of our oceans, rampant deforestation of forests all over the globe, and myriad other wholesale destruction of nature, have made it virtually impossible for wildlife to survive the growing influence of the Anthropocene. #LPR2014

As the Wall Street Journal writes: "The latest analysis was done by scientists at the wildlife group WWF, the Zoological Society of London and other organizations. Based on an analysis of thousands of vertebrate species, it concludes that overall animal populations fell by 52% between 1970 and 2010."

The world is becoming a quieter place. Which is exactly what Mother of God is about. What I have seen in my decade of work in tropical rainforests around the world, is that the natural world is in trouble. I have seen it with my own eyes. And it seems now more black and white than ever: if our generation does not succeed in reversing the tide of destruction, our world will lose much of its living things. 

Click Here to read the firsthand account of whats really going on in Amazonia, and the last few wild places on Earth.

BANFF Mountain Film and Book Festival - MOG!

SUPER excited to report that this week I received news from the BANFF Mountain Film and Book Festival that Mother of God has been selected as a finalist for the book competition! Check out the extreme wildlife and outdoor wildness of the BANFF festival! And don't forget you can pick up a copy of the book pretty much anywhere books are sold!

Encounters with Uncontacted People in the Amazon

For the last few weeks life has taken place beneath the trees, out in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. While traveling on remote rivers at this time of year, the dry season, it is always important to remember that nomadic 'uncontacted' tribes are a reality in Amazonia. This simple stone axe head was found in the abandoned camp of a nomadic Indian group. Smooth and well made, it is a tool used by a people from an entirely different world.

Have you read Mother of God and want to help the rainforest - here's your chance!

If you've read Mother of God you know all about the Amazing wildlife in the Madre de Dios region, and you know that the Las Piedras River is the crown jewel - the heart of the place. In the coming months an exciting project is coming together to document the indescribable beauty of this river, from its vast forests, teaming wildlife, and mysterious nomadic cultures. This is a call to arms that I hope you will join me in supporting. Check out the stunning trailer: