Buying and giving away rainforests? It seems strange, but it is possible. He’d buy it and change it from a restaurant owner in Brazil who heard him talk about his plan. Coincidence? “I don’t believe in that,” he says. “It has to be this way.” The woman needed money and wanted to get off the ground. It should have cost 25 thousand euros.
Forty days with the tribe
That money was too close. His foundation to save the Amazon forest raised 40,000 euros for the plan in two weeks. But after buying it, he gave it up and immediately changed the land again.
Give it and change it to old acquaintances. Acquaintances with whom he spent special time in 2016. Due to exhaustion, the businessman decided to live with the tribe for forty days. There he participated in an ancient ritual: cleansing the soul by taking the Ayahuasca brew plant.
105 football fields
He wrote a book about the wisdom he learned there. A portion of the proceeds from the book is now used to purchase the rainforest area adjacent to the habitat of the same tribe. It is about 105 football fields in a dense forest in Acre, the westernmost point of Brazil on the border with Peru.
He is surprised and changed by the numerous donations amounting to 5,000 euros. Many donations come from the readers of his book. “They feel connected to the place and the tribe.”
105 football fields untouched by nature, that sounds huge, but does it make sense? Wiggart doesn’t have to think about it for a second. “I can’t save the world, but I can save a piece of Brazil. I hope that starts with a chain reaction.”
However, Wiggert thinks it’s crazy to buy a rainforest to give back to the residents. However, he decided to play on the system rather than fight it. “I am a businessman and I saw that this was the fastest way to help the tribes in Brazil.”
“I just need something”
He buys and changes the land back to the original owners. “This is how I expand my backyard.” If he doesn’t, there are two possible outcomes: someone else with unknown intentions buys it, or doesn’t sell it, and the invaders destroy rich wildlife through logging and poaching.
Wiggert sees no better option than to return the land to the original tribes. “They know better than anyone how to take care of the forest, what kinds of animals live there and how nature should be restored.” The problem, of course, is not over yet. “But I just need something.”
Recently, British journalist Dom Phillips and guide Bruno Barrera were murdered in the Javari Valley. This is the highest plot of land that he will buy and change. “I was shocked, if you put the ruler next to it, it’s actually a centimeter away from it.” He did not change his mind and changed. “Although my Brazilian colleagues who came to sell received threats.”
Nature and indigenous people have been a target for years
In the Amazon region of Brazil, nature and indigenous people have been targets for years. This has increased sharply since far-right President Bolsonaro took office in 2019. For example, deforestation in the Amazon was the highest in 15 years last year. And changed: “The president also declared that the indigenous tribes do not have to rely on an extra centimeter of land.”
Recently, the president signed a decree to strengthen the protection of the Amazon. However, nothing seems to have changed. In the first months of this year, deforestation records in the Brazilian Amazon were again broken.
