Willd Earth Rendezvous July 1-7, Vancouver Island

Those of us living in BC are blessed with magnificence: old-growth cedars dipping curved limbs into the ocean, mammoth Douglas firs big as cathedrals, grey whales basking in the warm shallows.
We also get to watch it all go down. Clearcuts, mudslides, floods, drought, wildfires, rising seas – it’s all here. Grassroots action levels the playing field, and people working together can stop the destruction of "business as usual." Forest defense consists of dozens of different tactics and strategies moving in tandem, and we’re here to make sure folks can use every tool in the box.
What started as a one-week campout on Vancouver Island in 1999 has grown to include more than 1000 people and 100 workshops on indigenous rights, forest campaigns, herbal first aid, media strategies and much more. Operating on a shoestring budget, a few volunteers put on an event that participants call “amazing.”
The 10th Annual Wild Earth Rendezvous, set for the first week of July, is close to endangered old-growth forests in a low-impact wilderness camp. (Folks bring their own tents.) The Food Not Bombs crew prepares vegetarian meals for everyone to share. All kinds of people swap stories at night around the campfire: native and non-native environmentalists, urban and rural dwellers, veteran campaigners and eager young volunteers.
For one week a year, we create an activist community. This is an opportunity to start relationships that can last a lifetime.
Please RSVP to lead a workshop, volunteer, or register! forestaction@gmail.com
This year's workshops include discussions of First Nations title and rights, 2010 Olympics, effective media strategies, non-violent communication and conflict resolution, herbal first aid and wilderness survival.
The draft schedule for 2009 has two concentrations:
Campaign Strategies - using media, the law, and public pressure to protect ecosystems. The presentation will include an overview of environmental law, procedural law, media relations, strategies, allies, adversaries, targets, short and long-term goals, fundraising and outreach, diversity of tactics and more.
Citizen Science - surveying and identifying ecosystems and watersheds. Skills include: map-reading and orienteering, endangered species and indicator species, using GPS, data evaluation, mapping and reporting. Field trips in the public forests around Jordan River included.
We'll be camping for free on public land with no electricity, plumbing, or other amenities. (Wild Earthlings provide meals, snacks, drinking water, coffee, tea, wash stations, and latrines.)
Wild Earth is 100% volunteers. Your help with food prep, cleanup, childcare, transportation, and cash (sliding scale donation) is enormously appreciated.


http://forestaction.wikidot.com/wild-earth

 

Right on. I plan on being there.

 

4 short weeks away..

 

yes - coming up very soon. i'd like to offer a ride to anyone who needs one to the Rendezvous. i can pick up anyone heading there from Campbell River to Victoria (or Swartz Bay). just post here or pm me. see you there, chaos.