In this action alert, please find:
1) Introduction to the deforestation and water crises in the Global South 2) Outline of the project to address these crises in five departments in Nicaragua 3) What you and your local committee can do to help!
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1) Introduction to the deforestation and water crises in the Global South
Water is the very fount of all life; forests are its essential counterpart. Yet, all over the planet, rivers are dying, water-tables are falling, lakes are being contaminated, forests torn down. We claim to care for the earth, for justice, freedom, democracy. In practice, we overwhelmingly choose gas-guzzling SUVs over gentle hybrids; ever-more expensive coffee concoctions over paying coffee pickers a just wage; throw-away "convenience" over appliances that last and/or the intelligent maintenance of the world's forests, so vital to ensuring our children will have fresh air and clean water. As a direct result, scientists now claim some two thirds of the world's once-abundant resources are already used up.
As always, it's the peoples of the Global South who pay the heaviest price for the northern countries' unsustainable lifestyle. And no southern country pays more heavily than Nicaragua, much of which is fast becoming a desert, threaded through with dying rivers and wrack-thin cattle. Whole communities that once lived and thrived from the abundant rivers now dig holes in the dry bottoms to find even enough water to wash in; farmers watch helplessly as their cattle die of dehydration; once-overflowing wells are sinking fast, their increasingly brackish water contaminated from the surrounding wastelands.
The US, just 5% of the world's population, puts out 25% of the world's carbon-based pollution, and, while Chief Seattle's "He who fouls his own nest will stifle in his own waste" is increasingly obvious in US daily life, it is in mine canary countries such as Nicaragua where the writing on the global wall is most clearly legible.
2) Outline of the project to address these crises in five departments in Nicaragua
Faced with this appalling reality, some of Nicaragua Network's partners in Nicaragua have taken the initiative in turning back the desertification tide - in Nicaragua to begin with, but also as part of a broader "Another World is Possible" movement gathering strength around the globe. CIPRES (Center for the Investigation and Promotion of Rural and Social Development), FEDICAMP (Federation for the Integral Development of Peasant Farmers), the banana workers poisoned by NEMAGON, and others have developed "Let the Rivers Run," a comprehensive plan for the intelligent management of water and the re-greening of Nicaragua's watersheds. The campaign is already at work in Madriz, Nueva Segovia, Estelí, León and Chinandega, the northern Departments where desertification is at its worst. Together they comprise approximately one sixth of Nicaragua's total land area.
While complete reforestation is the long-term goal, there are many steps that can be taken now. The local communities are already taking action. But they need tools and materials to make their work truly effective - before the rains stop and the drought returns even more fiercely. The CIPRES coalition is already providing training in capturing rainwater; education in water use and re-use; prevention of brush and forest fires and of farm animal incursion into river sources; fencing areas for natural regeneration; drip irrigation; plastic bottle recycling for individual plant irrigation; soil stabilization, including terracing, plant barriers and living fences; the collection of local seeds and the development of nurseries where these seeds can germinate.
Most urgently, we must capture the rains before the dry season returns in November!
3) What you and your local committee can do to help!
This is where our help is vital and immediately necessary. The construction of one cistern, a large water storage pit lined and covered with concrete, requires US$350, roughly one-third the cost of a Latte per day per year. This sum includes tools, cement, sand, plastic piping for irrigation/house use, a low-tech grey water filter, a simple pump - and life for a school or clinic or for a family. Beyond the plans and training, the local community does the physical work. The Nicaragua Network invites you, your family, your committee, your work place, your faith community, your trade union, your school, to adopt at least one cistern.
Adopt a tree (or many trees) in the north of Nicaragua. For just US$36 you can have a tree planted in Leon, Chinandega, Nueva Segovia, Estelí or Madriz in Nicaragua. Give trees in Nicaragua as holiday gifts to your relatives and friends who "have everything!" "Let the Rivers Run" will plant mangoes, avocados, oranges and other productive trees on the banks of streams to protect the flow of water and provide food for the people in the villages in the area.
Or if you prefer, organize a group to raise money for trees and join local Nicaraguans in planting the trees in specific towns or villages in the participating regions. Sister City committees who are partnered with towns in the north of Nicaragua will find this an excellent way to interest young people and environmentalists in Nicaragua and its struggle to preserve its water and natural habitat. The Nicaragua Network will also be organizing reforestation brigades to join in this effort where are partners feel they are most needed.
Without water, nothing survives, there is no life. The bell never tolled more truly for all of us than today. Our world is completely interdependent. Without our support, Nicaraguan communities are hamstrung, the rivers die. But, equally, without Nicaragua's forests and fresh water, the USA will not survive. Together we can make the rivers live. Let's do it!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fill out this coupon and e-mail it to kathy@afgj.org; or alternatively clip off the coupon and mail it by postal service to: Nicaragua Network, 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003.
Yes. I/we want to make the rivers run. Therefore, I/we pledge to: ____Adopt ____ cistern(s) @ US$350.00 each for a home or US$500 for a school or clinic ____Plant ____ trees in my name @ US$36 for 15 trees. Enclosed find US$_______. ____Send me information about how our sister city project can get involved. We are sistered with ____________. ____Send me information about how our local committee can get involved. ____I would like to join a re-forestation brigade. Send me information. ____Donate US$ _____ monthly to "Let the Rivers Run" campaign for the next ____ months. ____Donate US$ _____ as a one-time gift.
Name:___________________________________ Committee:_______________________________ Address:_________________________________ City, State, Zip:___________________________ e-mail:__________________________________
For more information about the campaign, write kathy@afgj.org or nicared@ibw.com.ni or call (202) 544 9355 or visit www.nicanet.org