It’s December for The Noise. My contribution this month is an interview with executive director of Ride For the Trees, Sam Hagler.

During his time as a Peace Corp. volunteer in Paraguay, former Flagstaff resident Sam Hagler became intimately acquainted with some of the most breathtaking and bio-diverse regions of the world. Sam fell in love with The San Rafael Reserve, which represents some of the last wild rainforest in all of Paraguay. Like much of the remaining wilderness areas in the world, the San Rafael Reserve is being sold out to those profiting off the destruction of the world.

KB: A 10,000-mile bike ride throughout South America is more bike riding than most people will do in their entire life. You really must like riding your bike, huh?

SH: For some reason, even after knocking out my two front teeth in a bicycle crash at the age of 3, I have always loved being on two wheels. As a boy I spent my afternoons on a Dyno, then in high school I started racing a Gary Fisher mountain bike. I did my first self-supported bicycle tour across the U.S. for multiple sclerosis with a friend when I was 18.

KB: What are you hoping to accomplish with this trip?

SH: I’m hoping to accomplish a lot. I’m not hoping to save the world, but I am hoping to become a small part of a larger movement to live differently and consume less. Environmentally, the mission is to advocate protection for endangered forests worldwide, and to raise funds to support conservation efforts in Paraguay’s San Rafael Reserve. The fundraising goal is $100,000, or $10 per mile. One hundred percent of funds raised will support environmental projects by Guyra and Procosara, two organizations I worked with in Paraguay when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer. I also hope to promote bicycles as a healthy and environmentally friendly form of transportation.

If it’s possible to bike 10,000 miles through 13 countries, then certainly a few more of us could ride down the street to the store from time to time. I also hope to promote understanding between countries throughout Latin America, and especially indigenous people, who I think are mistakenly viewed as nothing more than savages by many people in our culture.

KB: Why is Paraguay’s San Rafael Reserve particularly meaningful to you?

SH: This 70,000 hectares of sub-tropical forest is particularly meaningful to me because I used to live near it and work in it as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have smelled the monkeys in the orange trees overhead, met the red and black haired Mbya Guarani indigenous people, and heard the metallic call of a Paraguayan parrot echo through the jungle. I got to experience the last 7% of Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest, which was named one of 34 “Biodiversity Hotspots” by Conservation International. Shared by Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, Biodiversity Hotspots cover just over 1% of Earth’s surface, but are home to 60% of all known species. What’s worse, in order to be called a Biodiversity Hotspot, the area must have lost at least 70% of it’s original habitat. Paraguay has lost 93% of its Atlantic Forest.

KB: What is the biggest threat to the survival of Paraguay’s San Rafael Reserve?

SB: The biggest threat to the San Rafael Reserve is illegal logging. Fires also pose a threat, as they are not a natural part of the ecosystem in the subtropical forest. In my opinion the biggest hope for saving the San Rafael Reserve lies in the conversion of the land from “private reserve” to “national park.” Paraguay has a few national parks and they are relatively well protected. This would require the Paraguayan government to compensate private landowners by buying the land from them. This may never happen, or it may happen next week. The fact is, somebody needs to buy the land because right now it is privately owned in parcels by about 50 individuals. Many of the individuals are uninterested in the protection of the San Rafael reserve, and so they allow or carry out illegal deforestation.

KB: How will the money you raise be used?

SH: The land protected by the Paraguayan Conservation Alliance, including Guyra and Procosara, is less threatened than land owned by individuals; most deforestation occurs on individuals’ private land. This is why 50% of money raised by Ride for the Trees will be used to purchase land as part of the Paraguayan Conservation Alliance’s Land Trust project through Guyra. But currently, as long as most of the land is owned privately by individuals, the next best option is to further develop the forest guard program and continue environmental education in the area, which is what the other 50% of the money will be used to do through Procosara.

KB: What are you most worried about?

SH: I am most worried about getting robbed. The chances of getting robbed are quite high on a trip like this, so I’m going prepared. No, I didn’t buy a gun. I bought insurance. I also have a slight fear of being attacked by a jaguar or getting kidnapped, but I hope that’s like having a fear of being struck by lightening.

KB: I think the jaguar will be on your side. You are, after all, helping to save their home. Why do you think more people aren’t more driven to defend the places they love?

SH: I think people are actually quite eager to defend the places they love. It’s just that many people love restaurants and malls more than Muir Woods or Yellowstone. I remember when the city almost kicked Hooters out of my Phoenix neighborhood a few years ago. It was inspiring how the Hooters supporters rallied together to keep the restaurant and it’s delicious wings within driving distance of our homes.

KB: Not to mention the sexism it promotes. How can people be so willing to defend Hooters while the needs of the natural world, the real world, are ignored?

SH: The problem is forests have been around much longer than Hooters. We take naturally beautiful places for granted because we have always had them. There is also the idea that humans are the most important species on Earth and can survive without the others. Second, money and a production-driven society that favors big business, marketing, and advertising, shift the public’s focus away from the places they love. How many people would give something up for a forest? There is also a fear of judgment by people who disagree and denial by people who value ignorant happiness over grim reality.

KB: To do a trip like this, you have to rely on the kindness of strangers. At the same time, you are a white guy from a country whose politics and economy hasn’t exactly been kind to most of the countries you’re visiting. Are you confidant that people will greet you with open arms along the road?

SH: The people I met in Paraguay were some of the most generous people I’ve ever met. The experience only supported what I have always heard, that Latin culture as a whole is warm and inviting. It’s true, I am hoping for permission to camp on farms, drink tea, and eat meals with families, and even stay in their homes. I don’t think I’ll be let down, but I am prepared for the days when I will be alone. I will travel with a tent, sleeping bag and pad, stove and food, etc. I am sure I will come across some hostility as well. I might be accused of being a spy, a communist, or a friend of George W, but I think most people will be appreciative that I left my home and, out of all the places in the world, ended up in theirs. I hope they understand how thankful I am.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 7:00 pm and is filed under bikes!, Column, who's fighting back. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.