This week made me realize how brilliant my job is and was also a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. When I was at Friends of the Earth we helped support the work of an inspirational Brazilian rubber tapper called Chico Mendes who campaigned to save his part of the rainforest.

His life was brutally ended at the age of 44 when he was murdered by ranchers who were opposed to his activities. On Tuesday the long-term impact of his efforts became apparent when Sky and WWF announced a partnership to safeguard the Acre region of Brazilian rainforest, the very place where Chico Mendes launched his campaign.

Personally, I think that this is a great initiative by Sky and WWF, the rainforest are the lungs of the earth and this practical scheme will not only financially support the region it will also help people make an emotional connection with these amazing forests. 

The fact that the forest still exists and the infrastructure is in place to ensure the money is well spent is largely due to the efforts of Chico Mendes and show the impact that one brave and committed person can make.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to be the guest of Veolia Environmental for the launch of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The event started with a reception in the awe-inspiring new Darwin building at the Natural History Museum before a dinner in the main hall sat under the skeleton of a huge dinosaur.

The photographs were astonishing as were the lengths the photographers went to in order to get the shots. Pity the photographer who disguised himself as a log and then floated in freezing cold water in order to get a crystal clear shot of a pike but still didn’t win. 

The winning shot was that of a wolf leaping over a gate which had an evocative fairytale quality. As with many of the other shots the photograph spent hours learning the movements and habits of the animals before getting his unforgettable image. 

Hot cities

On Thursday I went to the preview screening of a new documentarty series funded by the Rockefeller Foundation called Hot Cities. 

The first film took you into the chaotic heartland of Lagos where electricity supplies are so intermittent that everybody has their own carbon-intensive generator and the traffic system is anarchy. 

Despite the mayhem more and more people are being drawn to the city as they are no longer able to sustain their farming existence due to prolonged drought and famine.

The film vividly illustrated the real impact that climate change is already having on the lives of thousands of people. Remaining positive and up-beat in the face of this stark reality is incredibly difficult and made me realise how trivial my own efforts seem – very sobering.

Ideas

On Friday my art rich week came back to earth with a bit of a bump as it was spent with an ‘ideas agency’ seeking creative concepts for a new campaign. After a day trundling around the usual worn-out track of suggestions using techniques that were more haggard than me after too many late nights I was left wondering how and why these agencies exist.

The previous three events had demonstrated the enormous creative capacity people have. To flower, this innovation needs people with strong and genuine beliefs to be given the space, the permission and the resources to turn their ideas into reality. Sitting in a pretentious office surrounded by garishly coloured sticky bits of paper is as far removed from creating genuinely authentic initiatives as you can hope to get.

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