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Just a month after the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and death of crew member Fernando Pereira on 10 July, 1985, Gael Johnson and Tony Stills crossed the South Pacific on a voyage to Mururoa to protest French nuclear testing. Johnson and Stills braved the seas in the Alliance, a small flat-bottomed scow. It was the kind of boat used to carry cargo along the New Zealand coast, not cross oceans.

Despite this fact, Johnson and Stills realized the importance of joining the Peace Flotilla headed to French Polynesia. In the face of tragedy, they endured obstacles and preserved hope when it was needed most.

Johnson, a young mother at the time, recounted the journey a diary entry while aboard the Alliance. Recalling the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, Johnson writes:

My mind runs through my actions – have they been actions of integrity? So much celebration, laughter and booze and passion; but the feelings have been very high, very loving, very honest, open and joyful. How has this reality been created? Has the naming of a ‘peace ship’ as a ‘warrior’ somehow drawn the ‘war’ to us?

Johnson also wrote the following song in remembrance of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and loss of Fernando Pereira, a shipmate and friend.

Johnson and Stills eventually reached Mururoa along with the rest of the Peace Flotilla to carry on the mission of the Rainbow Warrior and its crew.

Photos and song courtesy Gael Johnson.

#CourageWorks #RainbowWarrior #Greenpeace #Mururoa #activism

In May, 1985, more than 300 people of the Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands packed up what they could carry of their lives, said goodbye to their home and boarded a Greenpeace ship. Rongelap’s residents left to give their children and grandchildren a future unexposed to the radioactive fallout that plagued them nearly 30 years before.

Sixty-six nuclear and hydrogen bombs were detonated in the area from 1948 to 1956. In 1954, a bomb 1,000 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima was tested at Bikini Atoll, 150 kilometers from Rongelap.

Many people in Rongelap immediately began exhibiting symptoms of severe radiation sickness: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itching and burning of the skin, eyes and mouth. In the years that followed, many experienced miscarriages and birth defects. In 1963, the first sign of thyroid cancer appeared with many more cases to follow.

Islanders pleaded with the U.S. government to be moved to a safer island. When their request went unanswered, a Rongelap representative to the Marshall Islands parliament courageously turned to Greenpeace for help to evacuate the entire population to the safer Kwajalein Atoll.

The ten day evacuation involving the Rainbow Warrior required four trips between the islands and moved more than 300 Islanders and 100 tons of building materials. A year after the evacuation, under increasing pressure for the affected communities, the U.S. government agreed to compensate the islanders for the effects of its testing and “clean up” the area.

Six decades later, Marshall Islanders are still fighting for nuclear disarmament in several lawsuits against the U.S. government. Read more about the evacuation from Rongelap and the Islander’s continued fight for justice.

Photo at top (Fernando Pereira pictured with Bonemej Namwe at Rongelap) courtesy of David Robie. Additional photos courtesy Greenpeace.

#CourageWorks #RainbowWarrior #Rongelap #marshall islands #activism #Greenpeace

The road to becoming a leading environmentalist in China wasn’t easy for Wen Bo. Despite stifling government regulations, he emerged as a key supporter to more than 40 environmental grassroots groups despite stifling government regulations.

“There are many small heroes, but it is hard to become a big hero, to impact a lot of people,” Bo told Yale Environment 360 in 2011. “If you become too big, the government will be worried and will try to stop you. That is why there are many small groups, but few big trees in China’s environmental movement.”

Bo helped build the grassroots movement in China through grant fundraising and awareness-building. His support for the movement began after he saw a Greenpeace video featuring anti-whaling campaigns.

Inspired by these actions, Bo began his journey as a student, organizing the first student environmental conference in China in 1995. Later, after working as a journalist for China Environment News, Bo established the first Greenpeace office in Beijing.

He went on to work for Pacific Environment as the China Program Director for more than a decade until he became the Program Director for National Geographic Society's Air and Water Conservation Fund.

In 2006, Bo was named Time magazine’s “Eco-Hero” for his lifelong work.

For more on Wen Bo, read his interviews with CNN and the Asia Society.

Photos via YouthLeader.org magazine.

#CourageWorks #activism #green #China #asia #greenpeace

René Ngongo has dedicated his life to activism. In the midst of raging conflict, he tirelessly pushed for an end to illegal exploitation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's natural resources. Ngongo collected abundant evidence on timber and mineral extraction under sometimes life-threatening conditions.

Leading up to the global climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009, Ngongo helped pen a letter to the World Bank, the principal financier of Congolese forest reform. The letter exposed the environmental and social chaos caused by multinational timber companies in the Congo and criticized the Bank's role in promoting industrial logging of rainforests in the name of development.

At the same time, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award "for his courage in confronting the forces that are destroying the Congo's rainforests and building political support for their conservation and sustainable use."

Upon accepting his award, Ngongo said:

“I humbly receive this honour on behalf of many of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's poor communities for whom the forest is a source of livelihood, a supermarket, a pharmacy and an heirloom. If we do not continue to raise our voices against the destruction of these ancient forests, their future and our very own existence is at stake."

In 1994, Ngongo founded the Congo’s influential environmental organization OCEAN (Organisation Concertée des Ecologistes et Amis de la Nature). Ngongo has been able to build a strong network and momentum for better protection of one of the world's largest rainforests.

Read more about René Ngongo’s work.

Photo by Greenpeace.

#CourageWorks activism environment green Congo

Courage demonstrated by villagers in India’s Mahan forest is helping to protect the forest from devastating coal mine development.

The Mahan forest provides a livelihood to more 50,000 villagers from 54 villages. For several years, the forest has been threatened by a coal mine proposed by the Mahan Coal Ltd. Community members from several villages in India’s Mahan forest banded together as the Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) in a series of protests that put them between mine developers and the trees.

Villagers prevented officials from marking the trees as boundaries to their new coal mining project. Perhaps surprising company and government officials, villagers asserted their right to protect the Mahan under the Forest Rights Act. Local resistance grew with more and more protests and rallies that placed members of the MSS between coal mining officials and the trees.

In 2014, members of MSS found themselves celebrating. The Mahan forest was deemed off limits to coal mining at the recommendation of the Indian Environment Ministry,

“The government has finally accepted that this forest, which gives thousands of us so much, must not be destroyed for the profit of a few. We will continue to fight for the recognition of our community rights over the forest, so that we never again face such a threat to our livelihoods. This is not the end of our struggle; it is the start of a new phase,” said a member of MSS.

The fight to protect the forest continues on as on only parts of the Mahan forest were protected.

Read more about the Mahan forest and the communities that are fighting to protect it.

Photos by Greenpeace.

#CourageWorks #MahanForest #India #activism #forests

In 2007, Evgenia Chirikova was a young mother of two girls who had moved her family to the wooded northern suburbs of Moscow to be closer to nature. On a walk one morning she found dozens of trees marked with a red X. The area was to be deforested to make way for a new superhighway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg.

With no organizing experience, Chirikova left her engineering job and founded a group focused on saving the Khimki forest. The highway project, seen by many as a corrupt giveaway to well-connected construction companies, faced growing opposition as Chirikova and her group created a voice for people’s feelings.

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank, major financial backers of the highway, eventually withdrew funding for the project over environmental and financial concerns.

Chirikova and her allies faced extreme pressure from the Russian government. Chirikova has been arrested and detained numerous times, faced rumors of being an American spy, and fought false claims of neglect and mistreatment from child protection authorities who threatened to take away her children.

In 2012, Chirikova was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her efforts to save the Khimki forest. She has continued to organize support for environmental causes in Russia. She and her family left Russia earlier this year due to fear of the government. Chirikova is also involved in Activatica.org, an online platform that helps the public share news and take action on environmental issues that are rarely covered by the media.

Photo by Олег Козырев CC 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

#CourageWorks

Malala Yousafzai was only in 11 years old when she first spoke out about life living under Taliban rule in north-west Pakistan. She wrote an anonymous blog for the BBC Urdu detailing her experience, which expressed her views on education. Read her blog here.

The Taliban quickly intensified its control and limits to everyday life, such as restricting women’s education. Yousafzai’s views on the issue and eventual unveil as the author of the blog, left her exposed to militant threats. As the world began to take note of her courage — awarding her Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize — Taliban leaders soon named her a target.

Then on October 9, 2012, while Yousafzai was riding her bus to school, a masked gunman asked for her by name and shot her point blank. But Yousafzai was stronger than their hate and survived the heinous act. After much treatment and perseverance, Yousafzai emerges as one of the strongest leaders in educational rights for girls.

In March 2013, she returned to school in the United Kingdom and one year later received the Nobel Peace Prize — the youngest person to ever receive the honor — for her continued commitment to supporting education for girls around the world.

Visit the Malala Fund to read more about Yousafzai’s story.

Top photo by Russell Watkins/Department for International Development. Flickr. CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom photo by Pete Souza [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

#CourageWorks #Malala

ACT OF COURAGE FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

RIC DAVIES Ric is a geologist living in Western Australia. He’s originally from the UK and moved to Australia in 1995.

GreatestPersonal Barrier I step into a lift and I start sweating, so anything to do with heights is going to test my courage. I think there will be some sweat.

Personal Act for the Reef

I’m going to confront my fear, while showing support for a responsible resources industry. This mine is not a responsible thing to do and there are some areas that should be off limits to mining. The Great Barrier Reef is one of them.

Courage is… Courage is bravery in the face of fear and sticking to your convictions, it’s about truthfulness and honesty. We need to be having a truthful conversation about mining and climate change.

Who is your favourite superhero? The Incredible Hulk

DOUBLE RAINBOW FOR RIC!

Ric overcame his fear of heights and scaled the 55m mast of the Rainbow Warrior to show support to #SaveTheReef!

Watch Ric scale the mast:

COURAGE is CONTAGIOUS

Ordinary Australians are gathering at the Great Barrier Reef to confront personal fears; they recognise that their fear of losing the Great Barrier Reef is greater than their own personal fears.

Over the next 10 days they will each take on an act of courage, hoping to inspire others to take action as well.

Will their courage inspire you to overcome barriers and stand with them to #SaveTheReef? Post your act of courage tagged #CourageWorks in solidarity! All acts of courage count. Join in & join the movement!

#CourageWorks #ContagiousCourage

Brikesh Singh spent the entire month of September 2012 in a tree-top protest to save forests in India. Leaving behind his everyday comforts of life outside the trees, Singh moved to a temporary treehouse in the forests of Chandrapur, residing near the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.

The expansion of coal mining posed an imminent threat to the reserve, surrounding forests and the wildlife within these areas -- that is, until Singh took up residence in one its trees.

The campaign to protect India’s forests, particularly surrounding the Tadoba reserve, didn’t start with Singh’s ascent into the trees. Working with local groups, activists had been fighting the expansion of coal mining for a long time. But local activists tasted victory during Singh’s stay in the trees. A special committee of forest officials rejected a company’s proposal to set up a coal mine in Chandrapur's Lohara block. The officials observed that any more coal mining there would result in fragmentation of the forest and isolation of the Tadoba reserve from other Central Indian forests.

Singh’s tree-top stay drew national and international media attention to the threat that coal mining poses to biodiversity and forest-dependent communities. Upon leaving the forests, he traveled to the city of Hyderabad with a petition of more than 230,000 signatures to save the forests that he helped raise during his stay. The petition was then delivered to the Prime Minister who was hosting the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity at the time.

“Saving Lohara’s forests was just the beginning – lakhs of hectares of forest are facing destruction from coal mining throughout Central India,” Singh proclaimed. “A month on this tree made me realize that our forests give us infinite resources and lakhs of Indians want them to be saved; it does not make economic sense to destroy them for dirty coal which will only last a few years.”

Find out more about Singh’s story and the fight to save India’s forests.

Photo courtesy Greenpeace.

#CourageWorks #Junglistan #India

For several years now, Jerry Natanine, mayor of Clyde River in Nunavut, Canada, has fought to keep the oil industry away from his remote community. Companies want to use seismic testing to verify big oil deposits which would scare and potentially harm nearby marine mammals.

Clyde River falls on what many believe to be the epicenter of big oil deposits, on the Canadian side of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. A handful of Norwegian-based companies were granted permission to explore the site using seismic testing with high-powered air guns. The shots produce frequent pulses of very loud sounds in the water. This method poses potential harm to surrounding marine animals such as seals, narwhals, whales and fish.

From protests to federal court requests, Natanine has become a very loud voice in an extremely small place. But he’s certainly not alone in the fight. Regional Inuit groups strongly oppose the testing and have joined hands with other activists in band together to against the practice.

Early on in their efforts in June 2014, the National Energy Board (NEB) approved a five-year application for seismic testing from a group of energy companies. As the community rallied, the group delayed the start of their project. Companies delayed again in May 2015 after Natanine appealed a federal court for an injunction to prevent the companies from moving forward.

#CourageWorks #KeepNarwhalsReal

William Kamkwamba was only 14 years old when he scraped together materials to build an electricity-producing windmill. Most people in his village in Malawi laughed at his efforts.

Now known to many as “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” Kamkwamba’s innovation and tenacity has since created a solar-powered water pump to supply drinking water in his village and two other windmills with plans to build more.

In 2002, Malawi experienced one of its worst droughts to date. As a result, thousands of people died while many more were left hungry, including Kamkwamba’s family. Kamkwamba couldn’t afford school and was forced to quit so he began spending time at his local library to keep up with his education. That’s when he saw an image of a windmill in a textbook. He thought if someone somewhere could build it, so could he. And that’s exactly what his did.

Even though most members of his village thought he was going crazy, Kamkwamba persevered with his project. After three months of construction, including a 16-foot-tall blue-gum-tree wood tower, his windmill was done. Neighbors looked on in amazement as he proceeded to light a bulb with the turbine. His family’s home soon became the spot for everyone to recharge their mobile phones.

#CourageWorks #TheBoyWhoHarnessedTheWind

ACT OF COURAGE FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Zac Romagnoli Townsend Philosophy and international relations major from Western Australia. He is of aboriginal descent and is active in the Indigenous Youth Climate Network. Zac has lived in Tasmania for the past 8 years and has never seen the Great Barrier Reef before.

Greatest Personal Barrier I’ve never scuba dived before, one of the main reasons being because I’m not keen on sharks. I know that the actual chance of a shark attack is absolutely minimal, but It still totally freaks me out to think of it.

My biggest fear though is actually seeing the destruction of the Reef, I feel it will really hit hard to realise what this will mean for our future.

Personal Act for the Reef I will confront my fear and do my first ever dive to witness the destruction of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef.

Courage is… To have the bravery to speak in line with your values act with integrity.

Courage stories I think my parents are great examples of courage for me. The fact that they provided a stable upbringing for me even through they faced so many challenges, that’s incredible. An international act of courage that I think was incredible inspiring was Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, who addressed the UN Climate Summit in 2014.

It was Zeina AlHajj’s first month on the job in 1999 when she and fellow activists encountered armed resistance, including shots fired, at a peaceful protest of the Lebanese Chemical Company in Selaata.

“You could tell the difference between the Lebanese activists from the Rainbow Warrior crew in the crowd by the direction they ran when shots were fired. Most, probably sensibly, ran away from the shots. But those of us who were Lebanese activists were so outraged that guns would be fired at unarmed, peaceful protestors, we ran toward them,” recalled AlHajj.

The group was on site of the Lebanon Chemical Company’s discharge pipe, which was pumping toxic waste and heavy metals directly into the Mediterranean Sea untreated, when the assault took place. Some were badly injured; one with a broken arm and another suffered a back injury. Journalists from the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation and Middle East Television were also assaulted, and the video footage from the Associated Press was completely destroyed.

The Lebanese Chemical Company further retaliated by filing charges against the activists who arrested and taken to court. Eventually the charges were dropped and deemed unwarranted against a peaceful demonstration. Today Lebanon Chemical’s dumping is restricted by law and the vigilance of the local community, and Zeina Hajj now serves as the Executive Director of the Greenpeace Mediterranean office based in Istanbul.

Photos of Zeina AlHajj and the Selaata chemical plant courtesy Greenpeace.

#CourageWorks

ACT OF COURAGE FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

PADDY COLWELL Presented a two and a quarter hour live interactive reef education show, 6 nights per week for over fifteen years. He is an Irish marine biologist and school teacher who lives in Cairns. HE IS TOTALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT REEF PROTECTION. Greatest Personal Barrier I’m speaking out for the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef, an act of courage, because in doing so I’m confronting a lack of action in the tourism industry. which in for the most part would rather we stay silent than admit the serious damage already done to the Reef and the serious threats to its future.

Personal Act for the Reef I will scuba dive to witness reef destruction, and will be calling on the tourism industry to stand with us to #SaveTheReef

Courage is… Overcoming something you don’t like to do. Many people have some heavy emotional rocks in their back pockets. It’s amazing what some manage to overcome them through courage.

Contagious courage Most famous example of courage for me is Nelson Mandela. The fact that when he was freed after all those years of injustice, he spoke of peace and forgiveness. I think he inspired so many others to be courageous and to overcome hatred.

#CourageWorks

ACT OF COURAGE FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

SIÂN DARLING Freelance filmmaker, also specialising in creative media and communication for social good. Siân's videos, writing, photography, performance and strategy are used to support projects ranging across social justice, the arts, and corporate.

Greatest Personal Barrier Fear of deep water. The idea of deep water and drowning terrifies me. I was terrified to even put my head under water when I started swimming. When I take a plane overseas, I'm nervous about the idea of the plane crashing. Not for fear of flying but at the thought of surviving the crash and having to be stranded in the deep water of the open ocean.

Ships also scare me. To tear through the open ocean, they must have such force and power. I feel they could easily drag me under them if I was to be near one.

Personal Act for the Reef I will confront these fears in an action on the Great Barrier Reef.

#CourageWorks #ContagiousCourage

Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner was one of four speakers chosen to speak at the opening ceremony of the United Nations Climate Summit in 2014. A Marshallese poet, writer, performance artist, journalist and mother, she was given the chance to deliver her people’s message before Ban Ki Moon and other world leaders. Not only did she rise to the occasion, but she powerfully voiced a call for climate action that left UN delegates on their feet with tears in their eyes.

In an inspirational poem to her young daughter titled “Dear Matefele Peinam,” she captured the severe realities of the impact climate change has on people, especially Pacific Islanders, and inspired action to change the course.

“We are drawing the line here because baby we are going to fight,” she said and went on to detail all of the heroic acts within the environmental movement to fight climate change. Coming to a close, she adds “we deserve to do more than just survive we deserve to thrive.”

we are spreading the word and there are thousands out on the street marching with signs hand in hand chanting for change NOW

they’re marching for you, baby they’re marching for us because we deserve to do more than just survive we deserve to thrive -- excerpt from Dear Matefele Peinam

Jetnil-Kijiner’s brave words to world leaders at the beginning of the Summit set the tone for the days to follow.

Read more about Jetnil-Kijiner’s powerful work on her website.

Image source UN Climate Summit 2014.

#CourageWorks

Today, June 29th, 15 year old Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez will address the United Nations General Assembly. The focus of this General Assembly gathering is to move nations towards concrete actions on climate change in advance of the COP 21 Summit in Paris this December.

Roske-Martinez has been a force for change for nearly a decade since first speaking out about climate action to a group of 300 people when he was only six. Since then, he has spoken around the world, organised and trained youth and guided adults to take action on climate, and even led a hip-hop group.

As Youth Director of Earth Guardians, Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez has helped create over 100 Earth Guardian crews in countries around the world. RYSE (Rising Youth for a Sustainable Earth) is helping train these crews and others to lead actions and organize communities.

This outspoken leadership has created opposition and even threats. After his talk to a school group about fracking in 2014 received local news attention, Roske-Martinez and Earth Guardians were the subject of intense criticism and threats.

None of this has slowed down this young, courageous activist and we look forward to seeing what he and all those he touches does in the future. We’re also fans of his lyrics.

Read more about Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez in the Denver Post and his recent interview with The Guardian.

Photos courtesy Earth Guardians.

#CourageWorks #StopFracking

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