Are you a Sloth? Many people are without even realising it. Don’t worry, this is nothing to get alarmed about, and is unconnected with the seven deadly sins. Instead, it means going against the grain of our speed-fixated society by contemplating, reflecting, enjoying, and living in harmony with both oneself and nature.

Following European exploration of their habitat, sloths were chosen by Westerners to symbolise a number of supposedly ‘undesirable’ qualities ? laziness, slowness, and a lack of industriousness, aggression, and
competitiveness.

The Sloth Club, whose motto is <Slow is Beautiful> originated in the South American country of Ecuador, where the Australian forest activist Anja Light and members of a Japanese NGO were passing through a small community on the banks of the Esmeraldas River on the northern coast. Outside one of the houses was a sloth bound up in a cage, ready to be eaten. To Anja this symbolised all the injustice and suffering in the world, and
she felt something had to be done. The group decided to buy it for its market value (less than US $5); it was taken down to the river and released into a nearby forest reserve where it climbed up one of the trees.

THE SECRET LIVES OF SLOTHS

Sloths live in rainforests of Central and South America, in branches between ten and thirty metres above the ground. Of the two-toed and three-toed variety, it is the three-toed sloths that typify the sloth behaviour the world is familiar with. It is true that sloths are slow ? in fact their maximum horizontal speed is 0.3 miles per hour. They spend much of their time hanging upside-down from branches, and sleep during the daytime for about fifteen hours a day.

They go through life with a permanent smile on their face, which undoubtedly does nothing to redeem them in the eyes of Western moralists. Greyish-brown fur is tinted green-blue with special algae as a camouflage against
predators such as the jaguar. These algae may also be a source of nutrients, taken in by licking the fur or absorbed through the skin.

Sloth Club members regard some of the sloth’s behaviour as a guide for living in harmony with the Earth. As you scratch beneath the surface, the life of this animal becomes increasingly interesting.

Biologists have tended to regard the animal as an evolutionary failure for not having developed speed and strength. However, in proportion to their body weight, sloths have only about half the muscle weight of many other
mammals. While this results in slowness, they also have the ability to climb thin branches, which protects them against attacks from predators.

THE SLOTH AND ECOLOGY

Conservation of energy is a key priority for sloths. At night, when their body temperature decreases, they stop moving and wait until morning. When sun rises, they climb to top of their tree to soak in solar energy.

The sloth has a slow metabolism, and it can live on little food. Once a week, a sloth will climb to the base of its tree to urinate and defecate, in the process exposing itself to terrestrial predators. It digs a shallow hole which it later covers with leaves, and in doing this, is feeding back to the tree much of the nutrition it took by eating the leaves, berries and shoots. By helping to fertilise the trees that support it, in the process enriching poor tropical soils, it provides us with a valuable lesson in reciprocity. If it had defecated from high above the ground, the nutrients would be scattered and washed away by tropical rains.

The sloth is of one of the few animals that cannot live without primary forest, and is consequently threatened by tropical deforestation more than most rainforest species. As a result of their experience, Anja and her Japanese friends were inspired to establish a sloth sanctuary in coastal Ecuador. They later located a nearby site called Tambaco Farm, whose owner has an interest in conservation. This 1,200-hectare farm contains virgin tropical forest, the world’s tallest (64 metre) mangrove tree, and a wetland that is also a pre-Inca archaeological site.

This project also expects to include eco-tourism, the protection of existing forest, reafforestation, and a large-scale permaculture plan. It now has the support of three international NGO’s, including the Rainforest Information Centre (RIC), based in Lismore. RIC accepts tax-deductible donations to help bring this important project to fruition.

The club inspired by the life of the sloth has no membership fee. The ethos is one of shifting from the culture of ‘more, faster and tougher’ to one that could be summed up as ‘less, slower and non-violent’. Members are encouraged to transform their lives, regenerate their environment, participate in networking, and act to help save the world’s forests.

They are also invited to make a trip to Ecuador, where Sloth people are involved with several conservation projects. One of these is the Intag community on the cloud-forested slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, which grows
and sells organic, fair trade coffee. In September this year, the 3rd Sustainable Coffee and Fair Trade Conference was held in the nearby city of Cotacachi.

SLOW FOOD

However, it is the Slow Food movement, symbolised by the snail, that has brought leisureliness into mainstream consciousness. Having originated in Italy, it now has 65,000 members in fifty countries around the world.

As its name would suggest, it rejects the modern culture of speed, choosing instead to value slowness, rest, hospitality, material pleasure and enjoyment. Where food is concerned, it places an emphasis on the savouring
of taste and texture, valuing the flavours of regional cooking. A substantial amount of its work has been directed to the preservation of biodiversity among food crops and domestic animals, while rejecting globalisation and genetic engineering.

In addition, a total of 75 towns and cities, nearly all of them in Italy, have joined a growing offshoot network called the Slow Cities League. Key aims are to minimise noise pollution, curb visual eyesores, expand urban parkland, and to allow a long midday break, so that employees can share a lengthy meal with their friends and family.

A FINAL THOUGHT FOR ACTIVISTS

While activism is important, it is vital for those involved in this area to maintain a sense of balance and perspective, and not become over-zealous. The following quote comes from Thomas Merton, who spent part of his life in a Trappist monastery.

“There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist…most easily succumbs: activism and over-work…To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many people, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralises his work for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes the work fruitful”.

Contacts:

Tax-deductible donations for the sloth sanctuary to:
Rainforest Information Centre, PO Box 368, Lismore, NSW 2480
Ph: (02) 6621 3294
Email: johnseed1@ozemail.com.au
Website: www.rainforestinfo.org.au (DETAILS OK)

The Sloth Club
Email: info@sloth.gr.jp
Website: www.sloth.gr.jp

Slow Food Movement
Via Mendicita 8, 12042 Bra (CN), Italy
Email: international@slowfood.com
Website: www.slowfood.com (DETAILS OK)

Martin Oliver is an activist, writer and researcher based in Lismore
(Northern NSW). He can be contacted at moliver70@yahoo.com.au