Stop praying for Amazonia. Just stop.

I live in South America, currently in Chile. In recent years I’ve lived in Argentina. What I can tell you about South America is as follows:

• A lot of the continent is poor. Really poor. Teetering on the edge of disaster, family members with memories of malnutrition. These people live in the cities and the country, with a lot of them working subsistence family farms.
• A portion of the continent is really rich. Next level, multiple household servants, sports cars and investment property rich. These people mainly live in the cities.
• It’s a very dry mild winter this year. The rains haven’t come, and there is next to no snow. We have dead cows everywhere in Chile, because there is no water and no money for supplemental feeds.
• The farm land is largely owned by conglomerates. They tend to run large cattle herds, soy and feedstock for biofuels like canola which are heavily exported. The family farms make enough for the family with hopefully a little extra to sell at market for extra expenses.
• Water rights disproportionately flow to corporations. 59% of family farms rely on rainfall farming and have no irrigation options. Oh, and the crop mix is moving to higher water usage commodities (like avocados and almonds) to place just at little more strain on the water supply.
• Family farms are teetering on a knife edge at the moment. They usually do back burning at this time of year, but were probably a little more desperate this year. Additionally the ground is extra dry. The fires got out of control.

So, a prayer does nothing. What needs to happen short term is the fires need to be put out by the military. Next step is that farmers will need financial aid this year, as they are likely to suffer financially.

Next year, farms need rainwater tanks. And irrigation system. Maybe we can get #raintanksfortheamazon trending?

Longer term the farmers need more income diversification. If western countries want the farmers to stay away from forest clearing, we’ll need to make sure they can earn more other ways. It’s time to buy some Brazillian crafts, pay to adopt an acre of rainforest or plan a forest stay holiday. #shirtsfromBrazil #vacayinBrasil and #homestayforAmazonia all have a ring to them too.