GERMANY-AMAZON/ANT PROTEST A demo like no other, as a colony of ants protests to save the Amazon rainforest

Record ID: 143406

  • Title: GERMANY-AMAZON/ANT PROTEST A demo like no other, as a colony of ants protests to save the Amazon rainforest
  • Date: 20th August 2015
  • Summary: COLOGNE, GERMANY (AUGUST 18, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF COLOGNE ZOO SIGN FOR ZOO ANT FARM ANTS WALKING ALONG BRANCH WITH LEAVES THAT HAVE BEEN LAZERED TO READ (German): "STAND UP" ANTS WALKING UP BRANCH INTO TRANSPARENT TUNNEL VARIOUS OF ANTS WALKING ALONG HOLDING LEAVES WITH "STAND UP" LAZERED INTO THEM ANT CARRYING LEAF WITH WORDS (German): "MERKEL HELP" LAZERED INTO IT ANTS ON BRANCH VARIOUS OF DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICA AT WWF GERMANY, PHILIPP GOELTENBOTH, BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (German) DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICA AT WWF GERMANY, PHILIPP GOELTENBOTH, SAYING: "We hope that the German government will continue, as in the past, to support the preservation of the Amazon rainforest there (in Brazil)." ANTS ON BRANCH PERSON PUTTING LEAVES ONTO ANTS VARIOUS OF ANTS CARRYING LEAVES ANT CARRYING LEAVE READING (German): "HELP" ANTS IN ANT FARM (SOUNDBITE) (German) DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICA AT WWF GERMANY, PHILIPP GOELTENBOTH, SAYING: "The ants are calling for the continued protection of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, their home. That's where all their relatives are and there are now a lot of efforts to have many of these protected areas reduced or even completely disestablished which would lead to millions of hectares of primary rainforest being destroyed." ANT CARRYING LEAF READING (German): "MERKEL HELP" VARIOUS OF ANTS IN ANT FARM
  • Embargoed: 4th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA11M2YMYYOAX0UVI7I16C0FCYQ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Some half a million ants were recruited on Wednesday (August 18) by the conservation organisation World Wildlife Fund (WFF) to call for the protection of the Amazon rainforest, ahead of a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Brazil.
    Working in collaboration with Cologne zoo in the west of Germany, messages of support such as "Help", "Merkel Help", "Stand up" and "Save the Amazon" were specially lazered onto leaves which were then given to the leaf cutter ants who carried them on their backs through their ant farm as a 'protest' for all to see.
    The WWF said they hoped the unusual event would highlight the importance of preserving the world's biggest rainforest and that Merkel would use her upcoming trip to the South American country to lobby for its increased protection.
    "We hope that the German government will continue, as in the past, to support the preservation of the Amazon rainforest there (in Brazil)," Director for Africa and South America at WWF Germany, Philipp Goeltenboth, said.
    Merkel is set to travel to Brasilia later on Wednesday for a two-day visit with a delegation including representatives from 11 government departments and large German companies.
    For the leaf cutter ants, the peaceful demonstration was also intended as a personal one, as Goeltenboth explained.
    "The ants are calling for the continued protection of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, their home. That's where all their relatives are and there are now a lot of efforts to have many of these protected areas reduced or even completely disestablished which would lead to millions of hectares of primary rainforest being destroyed," he said.
    According to the WWF, the Amazon rainforest, which they say is twice the size of India, is not only the single largest remaining tropical rainforest in the world, but it also houses at least 10 percent of the world's known biodiversity.
    The conservation organisation says that during the last half century, the seemingly endless Amazon has lost at least 17 percent of its forest cover.
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