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The
group will set sail on board a 105-year-old schooner on Tuesday
from the southern English port of Plymouth, from where British
naturalist Darwin's own expedition began in 1831, leading him to
develop the theory of evolution by natural selection.
The 40,000 nautical mile "Darwin200" expedition hopes 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
tall ship, to a number of remote locations like 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 researchers will study
the impacts of climate change on coral reefs and shrinking
wildlife habitats, while also planting thousands of trees to
help mitigate problems such as the desertification of land.
"The point of this project is to show solutions, show real
actions that all of us can do to help make a better future,"
McPherson said in an interview.
Throughout the journey, 200 selected young environmentalists
will temporarily join the ship to be trained on conservation
efforts.
Patrons of the project include Darwin's
great-great-granddaughter - the botanist Sarah Darwin - and
British primatologist Jane Goodall.
"We all know we're in the midst of the sixth great extinction
with a lot of doom and gloom about the problems facing the
environment, climate change and loss of biodiversity," Goodall
said.
"This voyage will give many people an opportunity to see there
is still time to make change."
(Writing by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James and Nick
Macfie)
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