As a scientist, explorer and conservationist, I have spent much of my professional life in the rainforests of the world trying to understand and preserve these incredible and irreplaceable ecosystems. To many it seems unusual that a former NFL cheerleader would choose to go and live in some of the most remote places on earth and brave all the undeniable challenges and occasional dangers of living in a tropical rain forest.
Mostly my dangers were parasites and disease, although I also had my run-ins with poachers, hunters and rebels. One of my inspirations for going into this line of work, Dian Fossey, was murdered in an attempt to save her beloved gorillas. To me, however, it seems perfectly natural that I do this work, because like Dian, I think these forests and its creatures are spectacular, not to mention biologically important. But some people think I'm brave (or mad) and, for my exploits, I've been labeled by more than one media maven, as the female Indiana Jones.
But I want to share with you the story of a woman who's recently come to my attention and who has faced far more real-life danger than me or any cinematic archaeologist. She comes face to face, not with gorillas, but rather guerillas, and unlike the gentle giants, these are armed and dangerous. To me, she is the modern day Dian Fossey of the Amazon.
I cannot tell you her name or her exact location. Far from a household name, she's an indigenous woman with little outside communication or access to the web. For years now she has faced multiple death threats warning her to stop the work she is doing to preserve their lands and conserve tradition. She continues to do it...but lives her life with a constant armed guard. Now that? That is really is brave...and I am in awe of what she's doing.
So, rewinding just a bit...I've always been well aware that the indigenous people are more knowledgeable and wise about the rainforests they call home, and have throughout my career been welcomed, taken in and, on occasion, even rescued, by the generosity and kindness of the local people. My research teams not only have always included the villagers, but we were dependent on their knowledge and wisdom of these remote and often little explored areas. This is true whether it was during my time in Congo, South America or Madagascar.
But the latter is particularly true during my time in the Amazon region. The Amazon contains over half of the planet's remaining rainforest. It comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world. One in ten known terrestrial species in the world lives in this rainforest. The Amazon houses more varieties of plants and animals than any other place on the face of the Earth. Biologically, it is unparalleled.
Simply put, the Amazon is the largest wildlife biome on Earth.
While the Amazon forests are abundant in jaguars and monkeys, these are not their only inhabitants, or the most endangered. The Amazon is also home to hundreds of indigenous tribes. These people are repositories of thousands of years of ancestral knowledge about their unique environment. Without them, important resources, medicinal compounds, diagnostic wisdom and ecological process would be unknown to all of science.
But the Amazon is under great and increasing threat from illegal mining and logging.
Deforestation has already claimed nearly 20 percent of the Amazon's original primary rainforest, and continues at a steady rate. If the Amazon forest is severely degraded or disappears, so diminishes our opportunity to understand this ecosystem and its relationship to other life on Earth, to find new medicines and to fight climate change - the defining environmental challenge of our time.
One and a half acres of rainforest are lost every second.
As Dr. Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and co-founder of The Amazon Conservation Team said "Every time a shaman dies it is as if a library is burned down".
But my conservation focus up until just recently has always been primarily on the wildlife and the rainforest itself. It has only been in the last 6 months while I have exclusively been working with The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), an organization that protects the rainforest by working in close partnership with indigenous peoples that I have become aware that indigenous people and their culture are equally at risk of disappearing. Across the globe, there are an estimated 370 million indigenous people, spanning 90 countries. They speak the majority of the world's estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures. Yet how much do we hear about them, their plight, or their achievements in mainstream media?
This week, while at ACT headquarters, it was brought to my attention that a little-known celebration, "The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples" is observed every year on August 9 to promote and protect the rights of the world's indigenous populations.
While the day is not recognized as a public holiday, it is used to teach about indigenous culture, traditions, religion, arts, and history, along with the contributions of indigenous individuals to society. This occasion also identifies achievements and contributions that indigenous people are making to improve world issues such as environmental protection.
So I started doing a little research, and that leads me to this piece. In searching for indigenous people around the globe who are really making a difference but are unsung heroes to the rest of the world, I came upon an extraordinary woman. More than extraordinary. She is a by all definitions of the word: a hero.
As an environmental activist who has gone head to head with local government, mining companies, and even armed militia, she has, so far, survived numerous direct attacks against her life. Her latest mission has resulted in even more threats. Her fear that every day may be her last, are not unfounded. According to Global Witness, 185 environmental activists have been murdered in just 2015.
Although I cannot name her, I can say that she is not alone. Indigenous people are at the forefront of these environmental wars. She is one of many shining examples of the perilous work that indigenous people are doing to save their lands, cultures and traditions. Even in the persistent face of danger.
While these are not often stories or people that make it to mainstream media, this woman should be a household name. And yet, because of the very risky nature of her work as an accomplished environmental activist, she, like many others on the ground fighting the fight, may never be given the acclaim she deserves.