Kickstarter

Leblon, the leading Brazilian Cachaca party are hosting a party for The Guarani Project at the Hotel Hudson Bar in New York City on Friday April 16.

Come and meet the Guarani Team, enjoy an exclusive Guarani Caipirinha and enter the Guarani Project raffle to win some fantastic prizes including round trip flights to Rio and a night for two at a top New York Hotel!

All proceeds go towards the Guarani Project: making this documentary a reality.

$20 donation on the door, and receive two complimentary Caipirinha's.

If you've already pledged the drinks will flow all the more freely...!

1. We can't live without water

The scarcity of freshwater is no longer a problem restricted to poor countries. Shortages are reaching crisis proportions in even the most highly developed regions: the Ogallala Aquifer in central US is being rapidly depleted by intense municipal use, and in 2008, 438 million gallons of water were shipped to Barcelona, Spain, to relieve the worst drought that the region had experience in over 60 years. Water use has grown at twice the rate of the world’s population for the last century (UN Water), and we’ve reached peak water, the point at which the renewable supply is forever outstripped by unquenchable demand.

Humanity is extracting and polluting the world’s fresh water reserves faster than they can be replenished. Rampant economic growth — more homes, more businesses, more water-intensive products and processes, and a rising standard of living — has outstripped the ready supply, especially in historically dry regions. Compounding the problem, the hydrologic cycle is growing less predictable as climate change alters established temperature patterns around the globe. As countries look to alternatives sources of water to alleviate shortages, the largest world’s largest body fresh water, The Guarani Aquifer, is going to be high on the list.

2. The Guarani Aquifer is being polluted so we need to act now: you can't 'unpollute' water

This huge water resource, which could be a lifeline for us all in the future, is being threatened now by pollution. Something needs to happen to stop lax industry laws and a lack of collaboration between the countries that share the Guarani Aquifer from destroying it. By raising awareness of this water source, we can bring environmental abuses into the light and stop any more from happening.

The pollution of the aquifer will affect us all in the future, but what about the Guarani people who live and rely on the aquifer today, and have done thousands of years? Are their voices being heard amongst the clamour of the multinationals desperate for cheap water? Their side of the story needs to be told, and heard.

3. The Guarani Aquifer is a potential source of conflict in the region and beyond

“The next wars will be fought over water,” said Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali in 1985. He reiterated that point in 2003: "Water will be more important than oil this century".

South American activists are already accusing the US of eying the Guarani Aquifer as a source of water for the dry states. Various people from George W Bush to eco-millionaire Douglas Tompkins, founder of North Face, have been accused of neo-imperialist motivations when they brought land on the Guarani Aquifer. Is there any truth in these accusations? Is South America and the Guarani Aquifer going to be the next Iraq? Or, are these accusations only interesting in terms of the social atmosphere they breed?

We need to find out. And if conflict is brewing we need to know the facts now so we don’t enter a war with only half the facts…. again.

4. There has never been an English language documentary about the Guarani Aquifer

In fact, most people outside of Latin America haven't even heard of it. By donating to The Guarani Project you are helping us shed light on the facts, give a voice to the voiceless and protect a water resource that none of us can live with out.

5. Quality journalism doesn't pay for itself

The internet has made us all expect our news for free. This, combined with the falling advertising revenue that the media has endured over the last few years, means that most newspapers and media outlets are avoiding covering big and expensive stories. The story of the Guarani Aquifer is both, and currently holds too many risks for the cash-strapped media outlets.

This is why we are funding the first part of the documentary with small contributions from the likes of you. Your donation will allow us to gather the facts on the ground and then pitch to the media and production companies a clear and specific story. We will also be able to quantify the interest in the story: show editors that there is an audience.

There are various community journalism websites, like Spot.us, which are turning the public into both commissioning editors and funders with their 'start a story, fund a story, read a story' approach. We are asking you to do the same, but to think about your community in a more global sense.

Remember, whether your pledge is $5 or $500 it is all a huge help. Tell a friend about the project and get them to match your pledge and you’ve doubled your contribution.

Thank you,
The Guarani Team

Annabel's article about using Kickstarter to self-fund this project has just appeared on Journalism.co.uk.



Love the headline

Over the last week number of people have asked us "so, what's the story?" That's precisely the question that we're going down to South America to answer.

What we know is that the story of Guarani Aquifer is complex, with many interweaving threads: thats what many months of research has told us.

What books, internet and academic experts cannot tell us what life is actually like for the people who live on the aquifer. And what's going to happen to them, and us all, if commercial interests and political grievances continue to take precedent over the human story.

That's what we are going down to South America to find out.

We've put together a slideshow explaining the puzzle of the Guarani Aquifer.