In only a few weeks we're all going down to Thailand and Koh Samui to participate in the Re:earth Festival. We have great company too! Some of Sweden's best artists and DJ's are coming with us. This is definitely something you don't want to miss.
We're very proud to be part of this project and have the chance to give something back to the enviroment.

Join a fantastic party and a good cause. See you at Chaweng Noi Beach and Jungle soon!! Yey!

/Sahara Hotnights

Check www.arkive.org great page, great many films about earth and nature!

I maj 2005 var jag i Thailand första gången, och tog mitt första dykcertifikat! Första gången under ytan, och de var underbart! Goosh!
Just efter jul 2008 åkte jag ner igen till Koh Tao, Thailand, för att arbeta med dykning som Divemaster, alltså assisterande instruktör och dykguide.
Ön hade förändrats radikalt, och massturism var och är ett faktum. Och jag liksom alla andra som var där vet ju varför vi gärna spenderar våran tid och pengar på sånna ställen!

Det jag tycker är bra med att folk reser, är att ju mer vi reser desto större inblick och förståelse har vi för andra kulturer och andra människor. Och så blir vi förhoppningsvis mer medvetna vad vi behöver värna om på jorden.
Även pengarna vi spenderar hoppas vi går till landets utveckling, utan att priserna skjuter uppåt.

Nackdelen med turismen, är de naturresurser som vi sliter på.
Till exempel på dessa öar utanför Thailands östra kust; för att folk ska ta sej till och från ön behövs båt eller flyg, ganska många och ofta för att det ska vara bekvämt och tillgängligt.
Väl på plats vill vi ha boende och comfort, helst inga asiatiska toaletter, och vi vill kunna använda toalettpapper.
Till tropiska platser tillhör allt vi sett och hört om i fruktväg, meloner, apelsiner och mango. Oavsett säsong.
Och all dess färsk sjömat!
Och alla nöjen som är tillgängliga, dykning, shopping...etc.

Det är lyxigt och fruktansvärt gott! Och heller gick inte livets besparingar åt.

Men vi får inte glömma vad vi lämnar till lokalbefolkningen, koldioxidutsläpp, avlopp som rinner ut i haven, sediment som kväver korallreven och av det minskade bestånd av fisken.

Februari 2009 kom 3000 (!!!) svenskar på samma gång till Koh Tao, för att se TIMBUKTU, CHORDS och TINGSEK live på stranden, och jag kan lova att hela stranden gunga! Själv stod jag på ett bord långt bak, med min engelska vän och knäade i takt.

Den här gången ska det bli större! TIMBUKTU tar med sej DAMN! efter publikens respons på deras spelningar tillsammans i sommras! LOOPTROOP ROCKERS efter en rå USA-turné innan jul, PROMOE kommer såklart köra solo också! TINGSEK uppträder med sin nya platta ochSAHARA HOTNIGHTS är med såklart och DJs som kommer spela är SAVAGE SKULLS och HUSARREST dom som får oss att dansa till sent!

De bästa av allt med att samla folksamlingar är att pengarna går till att bygga dammar för att förhindra att sedimentet sköljer ner på korallereven längs öarna, och så ska vi som vill bygga artificiella rev, så fiskyngel och korall har någonstans att börja livet på!

Det roliga med att göra en festival är att alla får tillfälle att göra något och samtidigt får underhållning som belöning! Nu är även FN och SIDA med på det här projektet!

We swim, we dance, let the paradise be paradise!

You are an integral part of nature; your fate is tightly linked with biodiversity, the huge variety of other animals and plants, the places they live and their surrounding environments, all over the world.

You rely on this diversity of life to provide you with the food, fuel, medicine and other essentials you simply cannot live without. Yet this rich diversity is being lost at a greatly accelerated rate because of human activities. This impoverishes us all and weakens the ability of the living systems, on which we depend,
to resist growing threats such as climate change.

The United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the multiple benefits of biodiversity. With 191 Parties, the CBD has near-universal participation.

The RE:EARTH project is a partner in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity.

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity, and people all over the world are working to safeguard this irreplaceable natural wealth and reduce biodiversity loss. This is vital for current and future human wellbeing. We need to do more. Now is the time
to act.

The RE:EARTH project and festival has become a partner in United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity.

Now is the time to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity

Now is the time to act.

All living things on earth are dependent on the ecosystems—that provide us with clean air and water, food, building materials, fuel and medicine.

Most of the oxygen you breathe comes from plankton in the oceans of the world and lush forests around the globe. The fruit and vegetables you eat were likely pollinated by bees, and the water you drink is part of a huge global cycle involving you, clouds, rainfall, glaciers, rivers and oceans.

Your diet depends almost entirely on the plants and animals around us, from the grasses that give us rice and wheat, to the fish and meat from both wild and farmed landscapes. Your body contains up to 100 trillion cells and is connected with everything around you and the wider world in a wonderfully complex and timeless system. You share your atoms with every being and object in the natural world, you are both ancient and inconceivably young. Biodiversity is life, your life is biodiversity and biodiversity is you.

You share the planet with as many as 13 million different living species including plants, animals and bacteria, only 1.75 million of which have been named and recorded. This incredible natural wealth is a priceless treasure that forms the ultimate foundation of your human wellbeing. The systems and processes these millions of neighbours collectively provide produce your food, water and the air you breathe – the basic fundamentals of life.

As if that was not enough they also supply you with timber and plant materials for furniture, building and fuel, the mechanisms that regulate your climate, control floods and recycle your waste and the novel compounds and chemicals from which medicines are made.
You may take biodiversity so much for granted, and it is so obviously all around you, that it is sometimes easy to forget it’s there - that you are a part of it and can’t live apart from it.

Biodiversity’s contribution to your life is not just practical, physical and utilitarian, it is also cultural. The diversity of the natural world has been a constant source of inspiration throughout human history, influencing traditions, the way our society has evolved and supplying the basic goods and services upon which trade and the economy is built. The disappearance of unique species is a loss that cannot be calculated and leaves us all much poorer.

The loss of iconic and symbolic species is not only a cultural tragedy; it also undermines our own survival. The beautiful, bountiful diversity of the natural world is being damaged as a result of human activities. Felling or burning of forests, removal of mangroves, intensive farming, pollution stress, overfishing and the impacts of climate change are all destroying biodiversity.

We can stop this loss, the question is will we? The International Year of Biodiversity is our chance to prove we will.

Join the Reearth festival if you would like to make a difference and give something back as a traveler! One small step by you can lead to big change for all of us!

Take Action in 2010 and beyond, because   

Biodiversity is life    Biodiversity is our life

Sprid! Circulate! Propagar! Sirkulere! Extender!

Party people!

Below you can see some awesome pictures of the ReEarth Festival grounds being built and prepared for the massive event in February.

The “Samui Friends Group” (as presented earlier) are doing an amazing job with creating the true ReEarth feeling at the festival area in Chaweng Noi Beach on Koh Samui island in Southern Thailand. All building materials are natural, but no endangered wood is being used. The main material for the building of the bar and other convenience facilities is bamboo.  The main features are being prepared now, months ahead of the festival, to allow nature to take its course as the main decorations of this festival are live plants.  Corn plants will surround the bar, creating a sense of unity with nature and above the guests’ heads, there will be eggplant-leaves covering the roof.  The big stage will be placed at the back of the festival facing the Gulf of Thailand in all its beauty. In front of the stage the thousands of music lovers will be dancing on white coral sand among the sheltering leaves of the banana trees which has been planted months in advance. Never before has a musical charity event with world-class artists, for an essential cause, brought its guests this close to nature. Ladies and gentlemen – This is ReEarth 2010!

www.reearth.me

Some pics from the area what it looked like about 2 weeks ago!

Will upload some more pics soon. We had 500 scouts planting King Grass a week ago.
We are building a new eco friendly bar on the beach.

part of the beach and jungle area day1

Reearthfestivalen ihop med resdagboken.se har årets roligaste tävling. Som vinnare får du följa med under 5 dagar under festivalen i på Koh Samui, får utbildning i foto och reportage, all nödvändig utrustning som penna, papper och kamera, ha en massa kul, göra intervjuver mm etc och sedan publicera dina artiklar. Vi söker folk som är i sydostasien under perioden och är lite resvana. Läs mer under Tävling!

Ska bli så kul att få göra något som verkligen betyder något. Skriver mer sen. måste plugga.

Hej, är på grannön så ofta jag bara hinner o kollar in våra skyssta banan o papaya plantage på festivalområdet. Alla frukt är odlat på området och kommer att vara perfekta i slutet av februari!

Next year is going to be even better than this years party!