I was just going over all the material that I collected at the recent first UK Arts and Forestry meeting held in London last month, when I saw a note that I had written down, to look up a well known Slovenian film maker, Andrej Zdravic, who has recently done a film about forests.

I did a search on google and accidentally came across this film and lost an hour… Now, I have been briefly to Slovenian and I am going back this Sept as I have been invited to the 20th anniversary of Pro Silva Europe -the Close to Nature forestry organisation.  Slovenians are an interesting people, proudly living in country 70% covered by forests and whose economy is also 70% forestry based. Yet this unassuming Slovenian man, is truly a hero in trying to alert the world about saving the Amazon rain forests, the world’s water and climate. I will keep looking for the other Slovenian filmmaker but enjoy meeting Martin Strel! (See the longer clip, here)

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‘Many times I talked to myself and to the river. I said: “I am a good man with a good intention. I’ve been talking with the Amazon river for 66 days now. The animals have been swimming with me for weeks, I think Nature allowed me to do this.”

I also want to promote a message of clean rivers, clean water and friendship, because these rivers and water have to stay clean, otherwise the world will collapse. The Amazon river is still very clean, local people use it as a natural resource and I think the Amazon should stay clean forever.

I have seen some deforestation, but it is not going to be good if we keep expanding the limit. I want to pass this message to everybody: “Do not look only for business and for money when you come closer to nature.”
Martin Strel, 2007