Young Blake Climate Change Research Expedition to the Kermadec Islands 2018

In 2017 I attended the Youth Enviro Leaders Forum in Auckland run by the Sir Peter Blake Trust. This was a week-long Forum involved 60 New Zealand and Pacific Island high-school students, where we engaged with pressing environmental issues facing the planet. Following on from this experience, I have been given the opportunity, as one of twenty past Forum attendees, to travel up to the Kermadec Islands North of New Zealand on a Climate Science Research Trip. This trip will involve world-leading climate scientists and biologists who will study the pristine Kermadec Region. This trip takes place over 10 days, beginning in late February and ending in early March. We will be traveling with the Royal New Zealand Navy on the HMNZS Canterbury (New Zealand's largest Navy Vessel).

We are traveling to the Kermadec Islands 1,000 km northeast of New Zealand. This region is one of the last pristine places in the world, and it is a haven for marine life with new species being discovered there every year. The introduction of cats, rats, and goats by early settlers devastated the birdlife and forests, but through the efforts by the Department of Conservation these pests have been eradicated returning the island to its natural state. In 2015, Prime Minister John Key declared the government's intention to create a 620,000 sq km Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary. When established the sanctuary will fully protect the region and safeguard it for future generations.

This voyage is a great cause to support. We will be conducting important climate research to better understand the region and the effect that human actions are having on the animals living there.