Under the leadership of President Bolsonaro, the Brazilian government plans to open up the Amazon forest for exploitation, meaning a further destruction of it. But to Europeans the Amazon Rainforest is literally far from their beds. The deforestation of the Amazon is a statistic they have been familiar with for decades. They don’t feel any urgency to be part of the solution, because they’re not experiencing any immediate impact.

Greenpeace briefed us to come up with a creative solidarity message, bringing the ‘Amazonia’ close to European citizens and collecting 100.000 signatures to put it on the agenda of the European parliament.

It’s only when something is gone, that we realise how much we miss it. With this thought in mind, we brought back a beloved European landmark, holding a message to support the Amazon.

More specifically, when at the end of 2018 the original ‘I amsterdam’ letters – standing in front of the Dutch capital’s world-famous Rijksmuseum - were removed by the city council, an outcry went through international media. Until then, the letters had been one of the most instagrammed, photographed, and recognised landmarks in Europe, familiar to millions of people worldwide.

We decided to put the iconic red and white 'I am' letters back in their original spot, only this time with a strikingly modified spelling: 'I amazonia'. The 22m x 3 m high replica sign aimed to get all eyes on another landmark at risk of disappearing, but one that is vital to our survival: the Amazon rainforest.

Although the conversation about the climate is omnipresent today, it is striking that the focus on deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil had faded into the background in Europe. This campaign was a cry for attention, but not one designed to shock or brutalise our audience. It was setup as a solidarity message for the Amazon and open the eyes of Europeans by bringing it into their direct environment.

Rather than going into full activist mode with militants chained to trees or demonstrators disturbing public life, we chose to win the hearts of tourists & passersby, and create public sympathy for a petition. The CTA: “Save the Amazon. Sign the petition.“

Reaching a number of signatures for this petition would allow Greenpeace to to put this issue on the political agenda of the European Parliament and force them to face the problem and no longer look away.

Coming in at 23 meters wide and 3 meters high the ‘I amazonia’ installation was an exact copy of the original ‘I amsterdam”-tourist attraction that was removed by the current city council. Making a customised replica of the selfie-magnet was though, getting it at the exact same location where it once stood, was even tougher.

But once installed, passersby of all origins suddenly became activists for the Amazon Rainforest. Each selfie by tourists & passersby posted on social media attracted the eyes of European citizens on the Amazon Rainforest.

On the spot, people were asked to sign an online petition to put the topic on the agenda of the European Parliament. A video of the stunt was later on posted on global and local social media channels of Greenpeace in order to spread the petition to an even wider audience.

The stunt quickly drew attention of the global press and the online community.

Within the hour after the installation GLOBO, Latin America’s largest broadcast network covered the stunt.

Picked-up by the former president of the Brazilian socialist party, #IAMAZONIA became a symbol for the fight for the Amazon on Twitter.

And in only a few days, the number of signatures counted up to 420.000.

As a result, politicians in the European parliament were forced to put their eyes on the Amazon Rainforest. Before it’s gone.