You would think that protecting the world’s last remaining virgin forests would be easy enough to do and high on the agenda of those who seek to govern. Unfortunately, it is not so. Those that seek to save these few remaining pristine natural environments are often putting themselves in extreme danger, if they dare to get in the way of this insidious and mostly unseen destruction. Whether it be in the forests of South-East Asia, the South American Amazon, or the last remaining primordial forests of Europe, there is the very real threat of violence and worse.

Agent Green’s founder and CEO, Gabriel Paun, has been on the front line of the fight against illegal logging for the past 15 years, both on the ground and in the halls of power (national and international). He and his team have witness and experienced the physical violence and intimidation, that the logging cartels and timber mafia meat out on anyone that stands in their way. With politicians and local law enforcement in their pockets taking back handers, the cartels continue to clear cut inside National Parks with impunity. The scale of this problem goes largely unreported and undocumented.

Agent Green however, as spent the past 15 year documenting this blackmarket trade, releasing an award-winning documentary film about these nefarious activities and the corporation that fund it. More recently, Agent Green’s efforts have gained mainstream attention with special segments on various national news programmes and special reports. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/on-demand/76658-004

In support of Agent Green’s courageous work, and in partnership with Rainforest Connection, Tentsile ran a project to set up solar-powered microphones at key points around a primeval forest in the Romania old growth forests to catch illegal loggers in the act. Using RFX’s proprietary technology, we were able to filter out the natural sounds of the forest, while highlighting the sound of human activity. This triggered alarms at the location of the closest microphone, allowing forest rangers to zero in on the perpetrators of their illegal activities and catching them in the act - red handed!

Agent Green continues to fight the fight of exposing these practices, documenting the facts and presenting them to the highest bases of power, such as National Parliaments and the European Commission. Through hard work, dedication and the ever-increasing public awareness, pressure is now mounting on the international corporations that have been profiteering from the corrupt network which sustains this immoral practice.

With Agent Green’s continued work and your help, we hope to see a stop to these illegal streams of revenue, the environmental damage that they are causing, and for all those involved to put brought in front of the courts to face justice and the full force of international law for their actions.

 

 

Kirstie Grego