Global conservation mission sets sail from UK in Darwin’s wake

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Nearly two centuries after Charles Darwin’s journey around the world, environmentalists plan to follow in his footsteps and embark on a two-year journey across four continents to study endemic wildlife and push for conservation.

The group will set sail on Tuesday aboard a 105-year-old schooner from the port of Plymouth, in the south of England, from where the expedition of the British naturalist Darwin himself set out in 1831, which led him to develop the theory of evolution. by natural selection.

The 40,000 nautical mile “Darwin200” expedition expects to anchor in 32 ports, including all the major ports visited by Darwin’s HMS Beagle.

The group will travel on the Oosterschelde, a restored Dutch sailing ship, to various remote locations including the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin’s observations that related bird species differ from island to island helped inspire his seminal book on evolution, “On the Origin of Species”.

Darwin200 founder Stewart McPherson said the researchers will study the impacts of climate change on coral reefs and the reduction of wildlife habitats, while planting thousands of trees to help mitigate problems such as desertification of the land.

“The goal of this project is to show solutions, to show real actions that we can all do to help create a better future,” McPherson said in an interview.

Throughout the voyage, 200 selected young environmentalists will temporarily join the ship for training on conservation efforts.

Project sponsors include Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter, botanist Sarah Darwin, and British primatologist Jane Goodall.

“We all know that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction with a lot of pessimism about the problems facing the environment, climate change and biodiversity loss,” Goodall said.

“This trip will give many people the opportunity to see that there is still time to make changes.”

Written by Sachin Ravikumar; edited by William James and Nick Macfie

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