J and Mel: Global Day of Action for the Amazon

J and I wanted to raise money for the Amazon by using our birthdays as an excuse... but our birthdays are now over. However, the burning is NOT over. So, in conjunction with the Global Day of Action for the Amazon, today, the 5th of September, we are putting out a call to raise funds for the continuous support to protect the rainforest, and hopefully for eventual restoration for the forest.

We are thinking of putting the money into two organisations (we'll announce a decision update at some point!):

1. Amazon Watch
They work directly with indigenous groups to protect and safeguard their land and rights, campaign against organisations causing deforestation. Their work is focused on three main priorities:
Stop Amazon Destruction | Advance Indigenous Solutions | Support Climate Justice

2. Rainforest Action Network
RAN's Protect An Acre (PAA) grants support grassroots leadership and local organisations in forest regions to protect threatened forest lands and to protect the human rights of communities that have co-existed with and depended on these regions for generations. https://act.ran.org/page/11127/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=w_ran&en_og_source=w_ran&_ga=2.67461137.1848293703.1567670006-768966261.1563761400

You can donate directly here through a debit/credit card OR through PayNow!

Also, it's not just the Amazon but parts of Congo and Indonesia are also set ablaze. Thankfully, the ones in Congo are not in sensitive forest areas for now. Burning season in Indonesia doesn't end til October, so unfortunately, those fires are still burning.

You can check out where the fires are on Global Forest Watch: http://fires.globalforestwatch.org/map/

If you are unable to contribute financially, there are other ways of taking action:

1. CALL OUT THE COMPANIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE FIRES: learn more here -> https://stories.mightyearth.org/amazonfires/index.html
2. Pledge solidarity with Brazil's resistance https://amazonwatch.org/take-action/pledge-solidarity-with-brazils-resistance
3. Share about the crisis on Twitter or Facebook. Here are sample tweets and posts from Amazon Watch: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OjjUHvyB7vmn94W0g9yDMfb9FXdaE6eUfPVJrDYurl4/edit