DIRTBAGS!! THE JONDACHI RIVER IN ECUADOR IS IN EXTREME PERIL and requires the attention of Dirtbags and their many friends around the World in order to be saved from a death by damming! ACT NOW AND SUPPORT JONDACHI FEST NEXT MONTH!! Jondachi Fest aims to get as many local people into the Jondachi River corridor as possible during the 3-day span of the festival. An elite Class V kayaking competition on the Upper Jondachi River will kick off the event on Friday, January 16. In the two days that follow, hiking, trekking, and caving excursions will be led by representatives of local indigenous communities. Indigenous storytellers, musicians, and artists from local river communities will share their work in public celebration of the river in the Tena waterfront park. Jondachi Fest will also facilitate guided kayaking and rafting trips for Ecuadorians from across all social strata. Local activists and leaders will present educational, environmental, and artistic workshops and seminars throughout the festival. At night, on the Tena town waterfront, we will share photos and videos from the Jondachi River and celebrate the river with music and dancing. THE FILM We are a collaborative group of river conservationists, ecologists, kayakers, filmmakers, writers, and photographers. Our vision is to create a documentary film (to be submitted to all major outdoor film festivals in 2015/16) that will capture the urgency, delicacy, and beauty of the Jondachi River and the Jondachi Fest project. If we can garner sufficient funding and support, we will execute the first-ever top-down exploration of the Jondachi watershed, joining the natural flow of the river in its descent into the Amazon Basin, interacting with the communities and ecosystems that define this river system. Within this adventure lies tremendous opportunity for storytelling and environmental advocacy. In sharing the story of the Jondachi and the organization of Jondachi Fest with the global audience, we hope to: • cultivate and encourage local investment in local watersheds; encourage policy makers to consider biodiversity, recreation, and community integrity as economically viable alternatives to hydro development; • and promote consideration of the story of a place before changing an entire ecosystem and the existing relationships between lands, rivers, and people. The guiding questions for our film project are the following: • What is the value of a river? • Who or what determines that value? • How do indigenous communities in the Jondachi River corridor use, relate to, and value the river? • How will their relationship to the river change, should the Jondachi be developed for hydro? • How does the Ecuadorian government quantify the value of the Jondachi? • What is the value of the Jondachi to the world at large, the international community? • Why does this ONE RIVER matter to the rest of the world? HOW YOU CAN HELP Endorsement, promotional support, in-kind donations (for racer packages, race prizes, and volunteer packages), printing services (t-shirts, racer bibs, event banners, etc.), and/or financial sponsorship will help bring this event and our associated film project to life. We also need help spreading the word of Jondachi Fest! More than anything, we need financial support to make the first-ever Jondachi Fest a success. We need to cover the costs of the event’s promotional materials, kayak safety and logistical support for the Upper Jondachi Race, and infrastructure for the community river festival in Tena. We need financial support to bring our exploration of the watershed and the associated documentary film project to fruition. Your donation will go directly toward funding the event and the Jondachi film project. Please feel free to pass this appeal on to anyone you think might be able to support Jondachi Fest. We are very grateful for your time and consideration. Thank you for all you do, and thank you for supporting free-flowing rivers. Facebook: facebook/jondachifest Ecuadorian Rivers Institute: ecuadorianrivers.org
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 15:15:00 +0000
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