My pain as I watched the Amazon burn
Olivia Newton-John: My pain as I watched the Amazon burn and why we need to plant more trees
The Grease and music legend on why she is backing the MillionMirror Trees campaign
By Tom Bryant
Thirty years on, Olivia Newton-John still vividly remembers the devastating sight – and smell – of the Amazon burning before her. Flying into the heart of the rainforest by helicopter as fires raged around her, she was greeted by scenes of desolation when they eventually found a clearing to land.
Everything was gone. I mean acres and acres and acres, just burnt. Nothing,
she says. And the sun was so intense, nothing could grow.
Her foray into the Amazon all those years ago was part of a life-long love affair with its natural beauty.
It was there in June 2008 that she tied the knot with environmentalist John Easterling in a secret ceremony on a Peruvian mountaintop dressed in traditional Incan garb.
John, who spent decades working in the Amazon, wore a poncho while she wore a matrimonial manta
, similar to a small shawl. The ceremony was conducted in the ancient language of Quechua.
It was in the hilltops of Peru where John and Olivia enjoyed an unconventional first date after he invited her to join him for a trip.
Given her affinity with the region, it’s not surprising the recent devastating fires which ripped through the Amazon caused her profound distress.
I could barely watch it, it was just terrible, not least as it holds such beautiful memories,
she says.
Flying into the heart of the rainforest by helicopter as fires raged around her, she was greeted by scenes of desolation when they eventually found a clearing to land
Having seen first hand the fires, she is glad the world is finally waking up, albeit too late. I went a long time ago – 30 years ago – it was happening then,
she sighs.
As Jane Fonda was saying the other day, we’ve had this information 30, 40, 50 years but no one’s really paid attention because we couldn’t see it. Now we can.
Olivia was speaking as she backed our MillionMirrorTrees project by planting a tree in the grounds of her Californian home an hour north of Santa Barbara.
It was there in June 2008 that she tied the knot with environmentalist John Easterling in a secret ceremony on a Peruvian mountaintop dressed in traditional Incan garb
I am delighted you are doing this, it’s incredibly important,
she says. And now with the horrendous loss of forest in the Amazon, it becomes even more so. We need to be planting out every block that we see.
Surrounded by rolling hills and lush vegetation, Olivia relishes the tranquillity afforded by her home where she lives with John, a dog, cats and chickens.
But like many in California she has been affected many times
by forest fires that have ravaged parts of the state. She once had to flee her home after getting a call from neighbours that a fire was close by. When I lived in Malibu as well, it was pretty frightening a few times,
she says. On one occasion the fire even jumped the freeway. It was very bad and we had to evacuate there too.
Having seen first hand the fires, she is glad the world is finally waking up, albeit too late. I went a long time ago – 30 years ago – it was happening then,
she sighs
She is heartbroken by the situation in Australia, where the UK-born star moved to aged five, where drought is causing misery to farmers and livestock.
I can’t bear the thought that these animals are trapped or can’t get away,
she says. Her Aussie health retreat, Gaia – nestled on 25 acres in Byron Bay – has also had fires break out nearby.
It’s very scary,
she says. I think climate change is pretty obvious. Whether you believe we caused it or it’s just a natural phenomenon, it’s still happening. Let’s just be real about it.
She is the joint founder of the One Tree per Child campaign whose aim is for every child to plant a tree or shrub before they leave school.
Bristol was the first British city to become involved, with children having planted more than 57,000 trees and another 6,000 planned this winter. We’re in many countries and our dream is to get every primary school student to plant a tree so they can watch it grow,
she says.
It’s really incredible to learn most children in the inner city schools have never seen a forest. It’s a wonderful way to reconnect them with the earth.
Olivia is talking to me in her husband’s study adorned with her Grammy awards.
She is such a bundle of energy and good humour, it’s hard to believe she is living with breast cancer.
Sipping a chilled glass of rose as we chat, Olivia, 71, admits she’s been on a difficult journey
but says she is doing well. Having beaten the disease twice, she was diagnosed for a third time in 2017 but shrank the tumour with natural and conventional therapies, including diet and radiotherapy.
But by 2018 the pain was becoming difficult to bear and she found out the cancer had spread to the base of her spine, causing a fracture. The actress even had to learn to walk again after being confined to a wheelchair.
There was a lot of concern but I was like, Yes, I’m going to do thi’, she says.
It is hard and I still have one foot that will always, most likely, be a problem but there’s no complaining.
Every day is a gift but you realise that even more when you’ve been on a difficult journey.
It is at her home that her husband John cultivates acres of cannabis, which he turns into drops Olivia takes to manage the pain.
He makes me a mixture of 20 strains that he’s grown specifically for me and it’s really helped me. I mean I’m doing fantastic,
she says.
I just take it on my tongue and it works really well, taking about an hour to go through your system.
You have to go very slowly because it’s a strong medicine, but John always says to me the feeling is the healing. So, I have to always remember that. But I’ve trained my body to accept more of it and it’s obviously working.
Olivia is on cloud nine after an auction last weekend, which included the sale of her tight black trousers and leather jacket from the hit 1978 film Grease, pulled in more than £2 million. More than 500 items were for sale at Julien’s Auctions to help raise money for the performer’s cancer treatment centre in Australia.
The trousers worn for the You’re the One That I Want duet with John Travolta were so tight that she had to be sewn into them, and they were sold with a broken zip.
Those iconic trousers and the leather jacket went for £300,000. They were stored in cardboard boxes in storage rooms for many, many years,
she says.
And some of them I hadn’t seen for a really long time. It was such a surprise.