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No Dams on the Upper Amazon!

Paddling with Purpose to save the Rio Marañon in Peru!

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No Dams on the Upper Amazon!

No Dams on the Upper Amazon!

No Dams on the Upper Amazon!

No Dams on the Upper Amazon!

No Dams on the Upper Amazon!

Paddling with Purpose to save the Rio Marañon in Peru!

Paddling with Purpose to save the Rio Marañon in Peru!

Paddling with Purpose to save the Rio Marañon in Peru!

Paddling with Purpose to save the Rio Marañon in Peru!

Stefanie Wessel
Stefanie Wessel
Stefanie Wessel
Stefanie Wessel
1 Campaign |
Santa Fe, United States
$5,636 USD by 80 backers
$5,196 USD by 70 backers on Apr 27, 2015

Where's the Rio Marañon anyway?

You've heard of the Amazon River, but have you thought about all of the tributaries that make it what it is? The Marañon, in Peru, is its hydrological source, meaning it contributes the most water to its final flow, and contributes massively to the general vitality of the Amazon basin. Did you know that the Marañon contains the Grand Canyon of South America Or that it, and therefore the Amazon, is under attack? I don't blame you! I didn't either, until Paddling with Purpose brought to my attention the 20 large dams proposed for the river's 1000+ mile stretch.

Look at those walls! Makes you want to protect that river, doesn't it?

I am a river guide from the United States with nearly a decade of experience, passionately in love with free flowing water. Rivers have sustained me in my adulthood and now it's time for me to put some of my river miles to good use and give back. This is my chance to help save one of the last free flowing rivers in South America from yet another big hydro project.*

Paddling with Purpose is partnering with Conservamos Por Naturaleza to raise awareness about the threats to this amazing river. Along with a group of Peruvians who are engineers, environmental and social lawyers, biologists, marketing professionals, graphic designers, and film makers, we will be filming a documentary about the Rio Marañon and launching a huge media campaign in Peru to inspire Peruvians to explore their country. In order to do this, we're going to the heart of it- a river trip through the Grand Canyon of South America.

Where's my money going?

Making movies and getting it out to LOTS of people costs money! There's cameras to pay for, software to edit the movie, the cost of producing the DVDs and distributing them. We need:

  • US$4000 for cameras and potential damages to them
  • US$1000 for the post-production of our film, and
  • US$3000 at least to promote the film throughout Peru. 

Getting people on the river cost money! Any of you who've ever done one know that. So firstly we need to pay for boats, frames, coolers, oars, PFDs (life vests), transportation and, of course, food! We need:

  • US$5000 for equipment rentals
  • US$3500 for food
  • US$3000 for transportation. 

Just me and some lovely people enjoying the rio!

I'm just one of many international volunteer river guides raising a portion of the cost of the project. Raising $20,000 altogether for this trip is just the bare bones minimum. Extra money we raise will go toward making a bigger impact with our advocacy campaign in the big cities and rural communities of Peru. And we will be better able to distribute the film throughout Peru, and the world! Even if I don't raise my goal of US$5000, the money I do raise will go first toward funding local Peruvians to go on the rafting trip. So give generously!

NOTE: I will be personally paying for my own transportation and gear expenses, including the flight to Lima! I can't stress enough that you are not funding my vacation to Peru, you're helping spread the word about a really poorly planned dam that will hurt Peruvians and the rest of the Amazon river basin.

Also, don't forget to check out all the cool things you can reward yourself with for supporting us in our mission to save the Marañon! 

What will this project accomplish?

Through its multimedia campaigns, Conservamos por Naturaleza has created an active and growing community of Peruvians who are exploring their natural heritage and taking an active role in its protection. Think of the Sierra Club's success to galvanize the US public into saving our Grand Canyon through massive media campaigns! A more recent example is the Patagonia Sin Respresas campaign, which successfully stopped dams in Chilean Patagonia.

Not only will this project help the 14% of Peruvians whose livelihood would be destroyed by a massive reservoir, but it also preserves the river for international travelers to enjoy! A river trip through the Grand Canyon in the United States has been called the trip of a lifetime. This could be another major river adventure destination. But only if it isn't turned into a reservoir first.

Risks & Challenges

Every project comes with risks. Of course, the challenges this campaign faces are nothing compared to those face by the river. There is always the potential that our efforts and the voices of the Peruvians directly affected will be drowned by the waters of yet another large dam, and by the money and power of huge corporations and the governments they're in bed with. We are doing everything we can do not let this happen.

With regards to our campaign, we risk having insufficient funds to leverage and effective media campaign in Peru. Filming on the river has obvious potential to damage the equipment and allows limited time to get the best shots. And of course, every whitewater river trip has inherent risk to the participants. But we are a group of professional, experienced guides who are committed to ensuring the safety of ourselves and our guests.

    I'm a dirtbag raft guide with no money, what can I do?

    I'm right there with you. Donating money can be daunting, especially when you're doing everything you can just to get by. But remember, literally every little bit helps. But, there are other things you can do to help! Share this page with YOUR parents and friends and family and let them know how much we care about rivers. Every little bit counts! Every river matters!

    Volunteer on another expedition with Paddling with Purpose. Go on a rafting trip down the Marañon with Sierra Rios.

    Go on a rafting or canoe trip on your local river, and learn about how important it is to your environment!

    LEARN about dams: Watch DamNation to learn more about the US history of dams. Read a book about dams- I highly recommend Deep Water byJacque Leslie, or if you want something a bit wonkier and harder to read, there's always the classic Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner. 

    Raise a stink about protecting our precious rivers all over the world- consider getting engaged with your local conservation groups or bigger ones like American Rivers or International Rivers.





    *I want to say a little bit more about big hydro, because I find that my opposition to big dams is not easily understood, or even close to universally held. Recently, Costa Rica made news for having generated the last couple months of power solely through "renewable" energy. The majority of that power is coming from hydroelectric dams in the country. But are dams renewable? Is hydropower green? Maybe not. Dams, we are finding out, contribute heavily to global warming through the emission of massive amounts of methane being released from the sediment buildup behind them. They contribute, also, to increasing salinity in our soils, a sure death knell for the previously rich and productive soils that produce much of the world's agriculture. Also, dams have limited lifespans, depending on a variety of factors, such as sedimentation load, seismic factors, evaporation, and upkeep costs. Not only that, but when we take into consideration the cost of removing dams, which always has to happen at some point, the benefits of building them in the first place don't look so good. So much for sustainable, so much for "green".

    Next, let's take a look at the direct human consequences. Just like building the interstate system in the US required displacement of people, so does building dams. To the tune of nearly half a billion people; mostly already impoverished people. The resettlement and displacement due to dams cause greater poverty, often alcoholism, and cultural destruction to the displaced people. The large corporations that fund big dams rarely account for the cost of compensating the people who live upstream of the dam, and leave that part up to the government of the developing country, which either doesn't or can't deliver on its promises. What's more, the people who live next to these life-giving rivers rarely want to leave. Sometimes they never even hear about the projects until they're already being built, and are forced, nightmarishly, to leave abruptly and forced onto unproductive lands with little or no money, no water, and no electricity to start them off. All of this is largely in the name of "development." So much for that.

    I will leave you with a thought from Jacques Leslie's incredible book Deep Water:

    "The larger the dam, the more expensive its dismantling becomes, until, in the case of a hydroelectric megadam, the expense may surpass the cost of erecting it. Imagine these dams in five hundred or a thousand years, after their useful life has ended, when an earthquake from the fault line beneath Sardar Sarovar fractures it, or the bankruptcy of Zambia and Zimbabwe leads to Kariba's fatal neglect, or Three Gorges fills with sediment, or Katse gets too expensive to maintain--and when every one of them suffers from an altered hydrological regime as a result of climate change. Take your pick of mortal scenario: cumulatively, they're more plausible than the assumption that megadams will be successfully financed, adroitly managed, and properly maintained into perpetuity. Some dams will crumble into the basins from which they rose, while others may still be intact but no longer storing water, which instead runs over or through or around them. They'll be relics of the twentieth century, like Stalinism and gasoline-powered cars, symbols of the allure of technology and its transience, of the top-down, growth-at-all-costs era of development and international banks, of the delusion that humans are exempt from nature's dominion, of greed and indifference to suffering. If there are tourists then, they'll circulate through the ruins and they now inspect the Pyramids, awed by the structures' technological prowess and unimaginable cost. The people who lived around the dams will have been dispersed, of course, and their cultures shattered, and the rivers and their valleys may still be depleted. But the dams' ephemerality, not the rivers', will then be on display. They'll be reminders of an ancient time when humans believed they could vanquish nature, and found themselves vanquished instead."

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    Choose your Perk

    Rock on!

    $15 USD
    I will skip a lovely river stone in your honor across the Rio Marañon!
    Estimated Shipping
    August 2015
    4 claimed

    Personalized Postcard!

    $30 USD
    I will take a beautiful picture somewhere along the Rio, print it up, and send it from Peru to YOU!
    Estimated Shipping
    August 2015
    10 claimed

    Beery nice of you!

    $30 USD
    Next time we're in the same place, the beer's on me! I will buy you a pint and regale your with tales of the Marañon.
    Estimated Shipping
    September 2015
    8 claimed

    Let's get out

    $50 USD
    I will take you to a favorite river spot of mine and we'll have a picnic!
    Estimated Shipping
    October 2015
    1 claimed

    Singing your praises!

    $50 USD
    I will learn one of your favorite songs, play it on the Rio, and upload a video of it after the trip, with a personalized message of thanks.
    Estimated Shipping
    September 2015
    1 claimed

    Hats off to you!

    $75 USD
    I will find some beautiful Peruvian alpaca yarn and knit you a hat!
    Estimated Shipping
    December 2015
    9 claimed

    Dinner's on me!

    $100 USD
    I will cook you and (up to) 2 friends the river trip specialty of your choice (including dutch oven dessert!) the next time you're in town.
    Estimated Shipping
    October 2015
    2 claimed
    sold out

    Cooking without Coolers!

    $40 USD
    Estimated Shipping
    May 2015
    4 out of 4 of claimed
    sold out

    Autographed "Emerald Mile"

    $100 USD
    Estimated Shipping
    July 2015
    5 out of 5 of claimed
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