Saving the Wild Amazon
April 2008
Evans Mitchell Books have donated £700 to Fauna & Flora International (FFI) to help fund a project in the Brazilian Amazon protecting the rainforest and the jaguars that live there. The money has been raised from sales of the Wild Amazon, the final book written by Nick Gordon, who tragically died of a heart attack in the Brazilian Amazon.
Nick, who was 51 when he died, was one of Britain’s most successful natural history film-makers and photo journalists. As a tribute to him the cheque for FFI will be presented on the 25th April, which marks the 4th anniversary of his death.
He first went to the Amazon in 1985 “I went into the rainforest for the first time, and that was it,” he later recalled. “I simply fell in love with the heat, the humidity, the snakes, the insects, the animals, the natives. I knew I couldn’t leave it. I was a rainforest man.”
He explored deep into the Amazon basin, where there were no white men and only the occasional Brazilian river trader: he made a clearing in the jungle and built a house out of fallen timber, where he would live for up to 10 months at a time. Over a 10 year period he amassed a unique and wide ranging collection of images and experiences of the wildlife and indigenous people of the area. He was always infectiously passionate about his work; wildlife and the plight of the rainforest remained close to his heart.
Fauna & Flora International is the World’s longest-established international conservation organisation. They act to conserve threatened species and ecosystems worldwide choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. Their work in The Americas includes blocking the arc of deforestation in the Southern Amazon with the Cristalino Ecological Foundation and determining the underlying reasons for jaguar persecution.
The £700 raised by Evans Mitchell Books will contribute significantly to FFI’s ‘People and the Jaguar’ project. This is a major ongoing study in the southern Amazon to improve understanding of local attitudes and beliefs towards the jaguar. The aim is to find out what actually drives the local people to hunt the jaguars so that an effective strategy can be developed to positively change these attitudes. They also provide monitoring to understand the health of the jaguar population. Findings from this research are being fed into an education initiative for local children to encourage them to develop an appreciation and understanding of the jaguar.
The donation from Evans Mitchell Books also coincides with the launch of FFI’s latest appeal which will focus on the plight of jaguars within Brazilian Amazonia and Belize, to further support the ‘People and the Jaguar’ project. To donate to the appeal go to www.fauna-flora.org.
Donations from future sales of Wild Amazon will continue to go to FFI and the amazing work they are doing to protect one of the greatest rainforests on earth and its inhabitants.
Wild Amazon is a beautiful hard backed book that makes compelling reading and the amazing photographs will open your eyes to the diversity and beauty of a world that few are lucky enough to encounter. It is available from all good book retailers priced £25.
ENDS
Further information
For more information please contact Sally Woodyatt on 07912 979906 or email sally@polkadotpr.com
For more information on FFI please contact Camilla Iturra on 01223 579018, email: camila.iturra@fauna-flora.org or visit www.fauna-flora.org
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