MTV Cuts Down Rainforest for Reality TV Show
After the Viacom-owned network finished filming their new treasure-hunt themed “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” on a remote, uninhabited island in the Republic of Panama, locals returned to find their beach tattered and abused.
The television show, which premieres on September 17th, took over the neighboring, inhabited island in militant style by hiring the local police to prevent residents from accessing a public beach. As it turned out, according to local witnesses, MTV had cleared a small patch of rainforest to build a tiki-hut structure near the beach, developed an access road through the forest, and installed generators and lighting on the beach.
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Since the beach was guarded by armed officers, the locals only heard rumors of the destruction until they were able to go back to the beach after filming had finished. “I have seen the aftermath of a tornado and this was almost as bad,” read the account, written by Jmaher and Michael Drake. “A large plot of rainforest had been cleared, a pristine Caribbean beach had been trashed, and the creators had simply packed up and left. A family of what appeared to be ‘squatters’ had already moved into one of the buildings left behind.”
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At the time of the writing, MTV had not yet announced the premiere of the television show. The authors deduced that the network had been behind the commotion after finding papers with MTV’s logo among other garbage littering small village’s the streets. The nearby uninhabited island (which the show’s contestants ravaged for hidden treasure) had not been visited by the writers, so we’ll have to watch the show to see how that island fared. All this comes after MTV’s recent efforts to encourage teens to go green.
“Perhaps I have been unjustified in my criticism and, if so, I will offer my apologies whenever it becomes obvious that I have been unfair,” the lengthy piece reads, nearing conclusion. “In the meanwhile I will continue to show my irritation for what I perceive Mtv to have done to a beautiful area of rainforest and beach.”
A trailer for the upcoming television show can be found here.
Photo Credit: Joe Crawford on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
[Via: Ecorazzi]Other Posts Relating to Environmental Destruction:
- Greenpeace, Dove, Palm Oil, and the Destruction of the Rainforest
- Greenpeace claims a McVictory
- Live Greenwashing About Healthy Food: McDonald’s Lettuce-Growing Billboard
It’s George Bush’s Fault….the scoundrel!
This is simply S-H-O-C-K-I-N-G to say the least! TV people ‘deliberately’ clearing (even a small) piece of the rainforest!!…AND..police WERE in attendance at this ‘event’!!! There should be an immediate BOYCOTT of this network..they have NO social/moral conscience whatsoever!! This is disgraceful!! We are working so diligently to PROTECT (what is left) of the rainforest for the animals and earth…and for this despicable network to ‘purposely’ DESTROY part of it!!!!!
Sounds like MTV, a popularity princess that does not care about her actions. MTV will destroy a whole neighborhood and family if people are willing to watch it. MTV will probably hear about this from every.
In addition to making them mindless consumers, it teaches them to expect a well-groomed, luxury-driven view of nature. Then again, what would you expect from an American entertainment company?
An uninhabited island’s locals are pissed?
It was stated that there was an island out from the beach that was uninhabited, not that the beach was uninhabited. Read thoroughly before criticizing the article. I have seen the aftermath of corporate media doing this type of stuff. A few years ago some filmed in northern minnesota, did pretty much the same thing. And as for the contestant to put up their $300,000 to repair the area, yea right. You know they are on a trip to Cabo San Lucas to blow it on Girls Gone Wild crap. American tweens, teens, and college students by and large are becoming a mildly retarded version of what the 30 somethings were in the early 90s. And to think, it all started with Mtv. ugh.. ban em.
[...] island in the Republic of Panama, locals returned to find their beach tattered and abused.read more | digg [...]
I’m no environmentalist (got here from reddit) but this is just embarrassing. Americans don’t understand why people hate us - this is why. Companies that represent the U.S. (whether we want them to or not) go out there and act like douches and we all look bad. We need to start a petition to get MTV to go back and clean that up. Shameful.
[...] Link: http://sustainablog.org/2008/09/14/mtv-cuts-down-rainforest-for-reality-tv-show/ [...]
These production companies do this wherever they go. They will have a whole area closed off and guarded say, in the middle of NY City, populace be damned. As long as they are paying the right people enough $$$, all’s well for them and their production.
What’s the answer? DISRUPT THEM.