My personal experience in the Amazon Rainforest
I wanted to write this blog to explain to you all why I want to plant 5 trees for every item sold as part of VIRIDY and why I find it so important.
Back in 2015, I travelled to South America to volunteer at an animal refuge charity for a month in the middle of the Amazon jungle.
Where I was staying, there was no electricity or internet, there was only the basic necessities and the accommodation was surrounded by the jungle.
The charity was really amazing and focused on rehabilitating the animals in their care, as well as working with the local community to try to educate them on the impact the illegal animal trade was having.
There were a range of animals at the refuge centre, to include monkeys, a puma, birds and kinkajous, and they were all there for different reasons.
Some had been sent there after a life in captivity being an act in a circus, a house pet, or even found as an orphan because their Mother had been pouched for their fur or meat.
The aim of the charity is to nurse the animals back to health and eventually release back into the jungle, so that they can live freely in their natural habitat.
I have always been a huge animal lover, and before I volunteered I still understood the importance of preserving the environment we live in. But being so immersed in the Amazon, it made me appreciate so much more and I realised that whatever my career is, I want to give back to the planet we live in.
Deforestation
Most of you will have seen the recent devastation in the Amazon rainforest where it was burning down at a dramatically fast rate.
Whilst some have placed the blame on global warming, it exposed the pro-deforestation policies of Brazil’s President, Bolsonaro, which supports the deforestation of the Amazon to make way for more land.
Additionally, in Borneo, deforestation is happening at a rapid rate as a direct effect of the palm oil industry. Most of us will all remember the Iceland advert, with the Organgutan and the child, and although that raised a real awareness for the issue, it is so important that we continue to raise awareness and try to help the cause of reforestation in these affected areas before it is too late.
There is no doubt that if deforestation continues at the rate it is, that the devastating effects will be long lasting on the environment, all of the species who live in it and us.
I won’t go on too much about the effects of deforestation in this post, because I think that it will probably be a whole blog post or blog series in itself! But I can’t talk about the reason why I want to plant five trees, without talking about deforestation.
I find it hard to watch the destruction of our environment and feel so helpless. Some of you may be wondering, well how is planting 5 five trees going to help rebuild these forests? But if you think, that is 5 more trees being planted than what was being done there yesterday, thanks to you.
Giving back
The areas that I have chosen to support through planting 5 trees is the Kalimantan region in Borneo, home to the Tanjung Puting National Park and parts of the Amazon Rainforest in Peru.
Although the two projects are based in different parts of the world, both are greatly affected by deforestation efforts, impacting similar habitats, people and the environment in the same way.
By buying a dress from VIRIDY and knowing that 5 trees will be planted in return, you can know that not only are you buying a dress made ethically and with sustainable materials, but you have also made a small step in helping a real cause and giving back to the environment.
Grace x
