Delikado, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, The Climate Daily Reforestation Campaign!

KARL MALAKUNAS’S “DELIKADO”—DEFENDING PARADISE HAS NEVER BEEN SO DANGEROUS

The island of Palawan in the Philippines appears to be an idyllic tropical island. Its powder-white beaches and lush forests have made it one of Asia’s hottest new tourist destinations. But for a tiny network of environmental crusaders and vigilantes trying to protect its spectacular natural resources, it is more akin to a battlefield. Delikado by filmmaker Karl Malakunas exposes the harsh reality.

The movie follows Bobby, Tata and Nieves, three magnetic leaders of this network, as they risk their lives in David versus Goliath-style struggles trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier”.  Malakunas’ interest in the story began in 2011, while working for publication AFP in Manila. He was about to head to Palawan to write an ecotourism article, but learned his contact there, an environmental activist, had been murdered. That led to a years-long journey which uncovered the dangers that come from within — government agencies that do the opposite of protecting the land, allowing illegal logging to flourish — and the struggles to bring this to light. 

Why does Delikado matter to us? It exposes something most of the developed world doesn’t know, and that is this: As the world faces its sixth-mass extinction and the climate emergency worsens, it has never been a more dangerous time to be a land defender. It’s also a unique expose of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” in the Philippines, which has claimed thousands of lives and the International Criminal Court of Justice has said may amount to a crime against humanity. DELIKADO shows the drug war is used as a tool for politicians to control the levers of economic and political power. 

DELIKADO offers a story of courage and resilience to inspire others into action. Of the movie, – Luciana Tellez-Chavez, Researcher, Environment and Human Rights Division, Human Rights Watch, says, “Delikado is an important and powerful film. The tension is palpable throughout… but so is the incredible courage of the environmental defenders portrayed.” 

DEEPER DIVE: Delikdado, The trailer, Karl Malakunas

NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY FOUNDATION

The world’s most pressing challenges are similarly difficult to see. Pollution, climate change, reef degradation, and species extinction. These problems live beyond the clouds and beneath the surface. They unfold invisibly, but they are ours to overcome. That’s why the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation was founded in 2000. it works with communities and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, to inspire the conservation of nationally significant protected areas in our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes, and to preserve America’s maritime and cultural history. The National Marine Sanctuary System is comprised of 14 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments that encompasses more than 600,000 square miles of our waters. 

Marine sanctuaries and monuments belong to all of us. We seek to connect people to their ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes, inspiring their stewardship and a lifelong devotion to their care and protection. The wonders that lie beneath our protected waters are hard for most people to see, coral reefs flourishing with glowing life, shipwrecks and cultural resources that tell our histories, organisms that explain life on earth; these marvels may exist out of reach of our daily lives, but they are ours, they are yours. 

NMSF work involves conservation and restoration; science and technology; as well as education and outreach. Why does the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation matter to us? Understanding global climate change and mitigating and adapting to its impacts is inextricably linked to our one ocean and its biodiversity. How we manage our global ocean to ensure it thrives for future generations is central to combatting climate change, protecting the health of coastal communities, and sustaining our economies.  

NMSF will host  the Capitol Hill Ocean Week (or CHOW) from June 6 – 8, 2023 to explore the ocean-climate connection and how we can make ocean conservation part of climate strategies and nationally determined contributions to address climate change. Click on the links in the Deeper Dive section of theclimate.org/episodes to find out more, and to register for CHOW!

DEEPER DIVE: NMSF, CHOW

THE CLIMATE DAILY 50/100 REFORESTATION CAMPAIGN!

Earth Day has come and gone, but Earth Month still lives on! (Yeessss…) Thank you to the more than dozen listeners of The Climate Daily who donated to The Climate Champions 50/100 campaign! There’s still work to do to get us to 10,000 trees. That’s why we’re extending the campaign through the end of the month–to give more of you the chance to become climate champions.

What’s a climate champion, you ask? A climate champion proves that a small group of people can make a massive impact on the planet in a short amount of time. How? Our company, The Climate, is partnering with over 30 international tree-planting organizations–ALONG WITH our climate champions– to re-plant, and regrow forests all over the world, by planting ten thousand trees at a time. 

Why? Because science says the best way to combat climate change is to restore nature. And the fastest way to restore nature is to plant and grow a trillion trees, and the fastest way to plant and grow a trillion trees is to replant and regrow forests. The fastest way to do that is to plant ten thousand trees at a time, 

So, we’re looking for folks to donate $50 or $100 one time, to help us plant 10,000 trees at a time, in one of seven regions around the planet (Which our tree planting partners will do. They’re the tree-planting professionals.) Please visit champions.theclimate.org/climate hyphen champions/50or100. Click on the donate button and join our team of climate champions today. 

 Again, visit champions.theclimate.org/climate hyphen champions/50or100. Click on the donate button and join our team of climate champions today. And if you want to start your own team of climate champions, reach out to us at info@34.203.12.8. Well help you put together your own small group of climate champions to make a massive impact on the planet in a short amount of time. (Planting 10 thousand trees–a 20-acre forest!) 

Wouldn’t it be great to be the change you want to see in the world? Go to champions.theclimate.org/climate hyphen champions/50or100and become part of something special. Become a climate champion.  Thank you!!

DEEPER DIVE: 50/100 Campaign, Trillion Tree Project