Animals in the Forest: The Day Terrible Things Came is much more than a story from the animals’ point of view. It’s also “a story to save the Earth“!
How does one story save the Earth, you ask?
The story itself is about an increasingly concerning environmental issue – humans ‘developing’ land where wild animals live.
But more than that, the main characters in the story have been specifically included to honour, and stand in solidarity with, certain young environmental activists, defenders and protectors, indigenous tribes, and places where people fought and continue to fight for rights to land, and clean air and water.
All of those honoured are listed at the back of the book, with website links for further research.
The Honorary List Includes:
- Balcombe anti-drilling community groups, Balcombe, Sussex, UK.
- Barton Moss anti-fracking protection camps and community, Barton Moss, Salford, Manchester, UK.
- Bentley anti-drilling blockade communities, Bentley, New South Wales, Australia.
- Dakota water protectors, indigenous tribes and activists against Dakota Access Pipe Line (#noDAPL), Standing Rock, Dakota, USA.
- Flint communities affected by water pollution, Flint, Michigan, USA.
- Moxateteu/Moxihatetea tribespeople (one of the last uncontacted tribes), part of the Yanomami tribespeople living in the Amazon rainforests, Brazil and Venezuela.
- Ridhima Pandey, a 9 year old girl and young environmental activist, who filed a legal case against the Indian government for failing to protect the environment, India.
- Whanganui River and its protectors, the Whanganui iwi/tribespeople – the river was, after a legal battle, accorded the same legal status as people, North Island, New Zealand.
- Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a teenage/young environmental activist and Youth Director of EarthGuardians [up to 2019], and part of a group of 21 youths who filed a legal case against the USA government and various fossil fuel groups for failing to protect the environment, USA (Juliana vs United States, 2015).
Animals in the Forest is a work of fiction. Some characters in the story are included to honour, and stand in solidarity with certain activists, defenders, tribes or places with environmental significance. However any similarity between them, or anyone else, alive or dead, and the story characters’ personalities, skills, language, actions, situations, locations or anything else are unintended and coincidental.
To find out more about how these environmentally significant people, tribes and places are honoured, you’ll need to read the book… 🙂
Paperbacks, audiobooks and e-books are available from most Amazon websites and major online bookstores internationally, such as Barnes & Noble, Booktopia, Foyles, Waterstones, Blackwells, etc. Note: the Kindle reader app can be downloaded for reading Kindle e-books on any device (such as PC, Mac, iOS or Android).
