Forest Patrol was born on a floating science research lodge.

John Erasmus and Yousaf Ali Khan conceived Amazonas Comics while staying on a floating research facility on the Amazon River; a place louder than any city and teeming with more life than anywhere else on the planet.

“We felt like Armstrong must have when viewing Earthrise from the lunar surface. We decided we had to make some effort to raise awareness of this unique and vital environment. After all, the Amazon rainforest is the planet’s lungs, and we’ve already lost 20% of its ‘lung function’ through deforestation since the late 1950s—contributing significantly to our planet’s ailing health. Preserving what remains is essential to halting global warming and continued species extinction.”

John is a storyboard artist and comic illustrator; Yousaf, a writer and film director. Given their combined skills, the vastness of the Amazon, and the remoteness of many communities, a children’s comic made perfect sense.

“For 20 years, the scientific community has tried to get the message out—but it’s largely been ignored. Amazonas Comics aims to inform and empower the next generation, whose future has been undermined by this one.”

Yousaf and John both emphasise the importance of working with Amazonian communities to develop the comic’s characters and stories.

“Too many communities have been spoken for—disenfranchised and disavowed.”

With the kind support of Rainforest Concern, local teachers ran story workshops with schoolchildren in communities downriver from Tefé. Many of the comic’s storylines grew from the children’s ideas and local folklore. Maintaining and developing this grassroots approach remains central to the project.

The children of the Amazon are the future guardians of the rainforest, but they need support from all of us. Amazonas Comics distributes for free to small river schools along the Amazon River and over 300 schools in the UK. If you can help us continue this work then please get it touch by clicking the button above.

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