Ecsite wishes to express its solidarity with Brazilian colleagues and the people of Brazil after the fire that devastated the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday 2 September.

While we express relief that no one was hurt, we feel deep sorrow at the thought of the invaluable collections destroyed, including the largest natural history collection of South America, of international scientific relevance.

This irremediable loss is stricking an underfunded national museum and acts as a sad reminder of how crucial it is for public authorities to dedicate appropriate resources to the preservation of cultural and scientific heritage.

Consult the museum's website for different ways to help.

In parallel, citizens have launched a call to collect images of the building and its collections via Wikipedia Commons: "One of the most immediate challenges is to recover and preserve images of the museum building and its collection, as our visual memory of these items is now our main asset. Anyone who has visited the museum and taken photographs of the buildings and its objects or someone who knows another person who has taken photographs can help".

Museum professionals worldwide are also mobilizing, for instance via ICOM's relevant Committees.