Last week, Real World/Road Rules premiered with 20 cast members being shipped off to Bocas del Toro in Panama, where they will all be forced to soak up the sun.  There’s nothing but nature to surround the 20 contestants who will hopefully find this new setting a little bit more romantic than the usual candle lights and indoor dinners. (Although, of course, the alcohol is still free flowing. This is MTV, after all!) MTV added that this time, there will be no challenges.  So what will the new season bring?

Controversies, of course.  In fact, recently a lot of environmentalists have been criticizing MTV for being quite hypocritical about their Switch campaign, as MTV themselves have left quite a big mess in Cocas del Toro, Panama following their filming of the latest season of Real World/Road Rules: The Island.

Michael Drake of the Treeclimber’s Coalition for Canopy Research, Adventure and Education recently released an eyewitness report of his account on the island following MTV’s visit to film the reality show.

Drake claims that "I have seen the aftermath of a tornado, and this was almost as bad.  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. "

Additionally, Sustainablog reports that after the filming took place in the remote, uninhabited island in Panama, the locals soon returned to find that the beach has been severely damaged by MTV's abuse.  Apparently, the production had a small part of the rainforest cleared to make a tiki-hut structure near the shore, added an access road through the forest and installed generators to provide electricity for the shoot.

Some have already begun to criticize MTV for their lack of responsibility in rehabilitating the said island, following the launch of their new international global climate change campaign titled Switch.  The said campaign aims to find the “best ideas and innovation that can help us reinvent how we live in ways that are cool for us and the planet.”

As of now, MTV has not released a statement regarding this issue.


-Valerie Anne del Castillo, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: MTV, MTV Switch, Tree Climbers Coalition, US News, Sustainablog
(Photo courtesy of MTV)