Ryan Ffrench is a documentary filmmaker from Melbourne Australia, currently based in Portland, OR. He works with scientists and conservation groups to communicate the realities of our changing planet.

It was terrifying and humbling to experience firsthand the current wave of deforestation in the Amazon. UN Senior Fellow Tom Lovejoy says current deforestation rates are edging the Amazon dangerously close to a “tipping point”— a line in the sand which if crossed could trigger the collapse of the ecosystem’s ability to sustain its hydrological cycle. The recent media attention after the fires in Brazil demonstrate an increasingly conscious of the importance of the Amazon, but “increased awareness” is not enough. Something has to be done, and soon.