Arctic Trip - Mini Blog #4, Sunday 24th July 2011
Well, here I am back at Pond Inlet after a 4 hour trek from our campsite. Having reached the Arctic I can now say another dream has come true!
I can also add to the list of beautiful and indescribable places of planet Earth that I've seen and that have inspired me to take action for the environment.
I've come away from this trip with an understanding of how complicated the relationship between man and Earth is, and how all the aspects of this are not totally clear. For example, while the polar bear is considered an endangered species by the science community at large, the local Inuit people that I spoke with said there are more polar bears now than there ever have been.
I explored this subject further with Pete (one of the scientists) and he said on a local level there are lots more polar bears in this area, which is why the Inuit observe this, while on a global level the numbers are indeed declining.
So, are the sanctions which do not allow the Inuit to hunt the polar bear the same as not letting Westerners eat as much food as they like just because there is a food shortage in Africa?!
I certainly haven't got the answer to this question. There are so many romantic notions about the polar bear, while to the Inuit, polar bears have been part of their survival for thousands of years.
What about the issue of climate change? Well the Inuit have noticed that they can't predict the weather anymore, which is something they were easily able to do in the past.
I found it so inspiring to witness how close the Inuit culture is to the land - something which I've forgotten having spent most of my life in a city like London. It bought back memories of being a child and living with my grandparents back in Georgia. They would grow pretty much everything we ate. I'll never forget the excitement of checking the chickens for eggs in the mornings to see if we'd be having any "egg and soldiers"! It's not quite the same, going to the supermarket where I know I'll always find eggs.
Katie x
Well, here I am back at Pond Inlet after a 4 hour trek from our campsite. Having reached the Arctic I can now say another dream has come true!
I can also add to the list of beautiful and indescribable places of planet Earth that I've seen and that have inspired me to take action for the environment.
I've come away from this trip with an understanding of how complicated the relationship between man and Earth is, and how all the aspects of this are not totally clear. For example, while the polar bear is considered an endangered species by the science community at large, the local Inuit people that I spoke with said there are more polar bears now than there ever have been.
I explored this subject further with Pete (one of the scientists) and he said on a local level there are lots more polar bears in this area, which is why the Inuit observe this, while on a global level the numbers are indeed declining.
So, are the sanctions which do not allow the Inuit to hunt the polar bear the same as not letting Westerners eat as much food as they like just because there is a food shortage in Africa?!
I certainly haven't got the answer to this question. There are so many romantic notions about the polar bear, while to the Inuit, polar bears have been part of their survival for thousands of years.
What about the issue of climate change? Well the Inuit have noticed that they can't predict the weather anymore, which is something they were easily able to do in the past.
I found it so inspiring to witness how close the Inuit culture is to the land - something which I've forgotten having spent most of my life in a city like London. It bought back memories of being a child and living with my grandparents back in Georgia. They would grow pretty much everything we ate. I'll never forget the excitement of checking the chickens for eggs in the mornings to see if we'd be having any "egg and soldiers"! It's not quite the same, going to the supermarket where I know I'll always find eggs.
Katie x
Arctic Trip - Mini Blog #3, Saturday 23th July 2011
We arrived at camp in the evening but first had an incredible ride on the boat from Pond Inlet to our camp site. On two occasions the boat hit ice and the first time a few people nearly fell out of the boat! The water seemed clear and the captain didn't spot the ice sheets, hence the close "Titanic" moment!
Once we got to camp I settled into a tent. Everyone had the same 2-man tents. The first night was freezing - I slept with all my clothes on in the sleeping bag, and the next morning I found out you should have minimum clothes on so the air around your body has a chance to heat up.
Waking up the first morning at camp was incredible. The sea which had been clear the day before was filled with cracked ice sheets - the whole landscape had changed overnight! Also a fog had descended on the whole place so you couldn't see very far at all.
What I enjoyed most about our first day at camp was meeting and speaking with the Elder of the Inuit people. He had some interesting things to say about their culture and how he and his people had spent thousands of years learning how to survive in such hard conditions.
That's all for now!
Katie x
We arrived at camp in the evening but first had an incredible ride on the boat from Pond Inlet to our camp site. On two occasions the boat hit ice and the first time a few people nearly fell out of the boat! The water seemed clear and the captain didn't spot the ice sheets, hence the close "Titanic" moment!
Once we got to camp I settled into a tent. Everyone had the same 2-man tents. The first night was freezing - I slept with all my clothes on in the sleeping bag, and the next morning I found out you should have minimum clothes on so the air around your body has a chance to heat up.
Waking up the first morning at camp was incredible. The sea which had been clear the day before was filled with cracked ice sheets - the whole landscape had changed overnight! Also a fog had descended on the whole place so you couldn't see very far at all.
What I enjoyed most about our first day at camp was meeting and speaking with the Elder of the Inuit people. He had some interesting things to say about their culture and how he and his people had spent thousands of years learning how to survive in such hard conditions.
That's all for now!
Katie x
Arctic Trip - Mini Blog #2, Friday, 22th July 2011
Well here I am in Ottawa, Canada. We flew in yesterday and now we're about to catch two planes to Pond Inlet in the Arctic!
I met the whole team last night including Martin and Pete the WWF representatives. I also met the Inuit representative Ud Loriak Hanson. She was a great person to introduce the culture of the Inuit people, with very interesting views about preserving their culture.
Interestingly, she said one of the most important issues they faced was one of education.
The previous generation of Inuit had a system of education where the government took them out of their communities and tried to integrate them into 'normal' Canadian culture, so their own culture - including their language, was not acknowledged or taught.
Luckily now things are changing and there is a better understanding of how important the Inuit culture is. Changes like this can be slow, hence the importance of continuing the focus on education.
This really resonated with me because of my past work with Save The Children, where education was also a key focus.
Right, the flight is about to take off! I don't know if my email will work from the Arctic but I'll try to write every day.
Adios!
Katie x
Well here I am in Ottawa, Canada. We flew in yesterday and now we're about to catch two planes to Pond Inlet in the Arctic!
I met the whole team last night including Martin and Pete the WWF representatives. I also met the Inuit representative Ud Loriak Hanson. She was a great person to introduce the culture of the Inuit people, with very interesting views about preserving their culture.
Interestingly, she said one of the most important issues they faced was one of education.
The previous generation of Inuit had a system of education where the government took them out of their communities and tried to integrate them into 'normal' Canadian culture, so their own culture - including their language, was not acknowledged or taught.
Luckily now things are changing and there is a better understanding of how important the Inuit culture is. Changes like this can be slow, hence the importance of continuing the focus on education.
This really resonated with me because of my past work with Save The Children, where education was also a key focus.
Right, the flight is about to take off! I don't know if my email will work from the Arctic but I'll try to write every day.
Adios!
Katie x
Blog Wednesday 20th July
Hi everyone
Been a while since I've been in touch, but I have a very exciting reason to write.
Tomorrow I am boarding a plane for Ottawa, Canada where I will meet up with Buzz Aldrin again. I first met Buzz earlier this year when I went to visit CERN in Switzerland. We were given a tour of the Large Hadron Collider which was an incredible experience. The trip was arranged by Opel (Vauxhall) and Buzz is a patron of Project Earth which is Opel's initiative to raise environmental awareness. As you can imagine, it was amazing to meet one of the first men on the moon and I couldn't believe how happy he was to answer all the questions about landing on the moon, he must get asked them all the time.
In Ottawa I will also meet thirteen people who successfully applied to join Project Earth's expedition. The expedition is going to four endangered zones or ecosystems – the savannah, the rainforest, the pacific and the Arctic. They started last week in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania so I'm looking forward to hearing about their experiences and what they saw and learnt. Buzz will be hosting a discussion with the expedition team about the first leg in Tanzania and also the remaining destinations of the expedition including the Arctic.
This is probably the most exciting thing I've ever done. We will be going to the Canadian Arctic to learn about the preservation of local species, and to see the effect that we all have on this fragile ecosystem.
We will travel to Pond Inlet which is an Inuit hamlet in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut in Canada. This will be the base camp for the next three days and we will be camping - I'm sure that Arctic camping will be a very, very different experience to the camping that I have done before. We will be accompanied by the members of the local Inuit community and by two people from World Wildlife Fund Canada - Martin Von Mirbach who is the director of their Canadian Arctic programme and Pete Ewins who is the Senior Officer of Species. We will have lectures, guided tours and expeditions and will experience the ice, the polar sea, the coastline and the mainland so I'll really get to see the full range of the landscape and wildlife.
I am looking forward to learning about the Inuits and their culture and how they live in what seems to me to be such harsh conditions. I've heard that they have an unusual way of singing called throat singing so I'm curious to see and hear that. My Dad is coming with me, he is a real adventurer at heart so when I first heard about the trip I knew I had to have him with me. It will be amazing if we get to see whales and other local wildlife in their natural environment.
I expect that I will come back really awed by what I've seen and inspired to continue working for the environment, with a first-hand understanding of the effects of climate change and global warming.
To read more about Project Earth go to www.opelprojectearth.com and at www.facebook.com/OpelProjectEarth. You can also follow the expedition's blog at http://opelprojectearth.posterous.com/
I better go cos I have to pack. I'll be given outdoor clothing like jackets, thermals and boots but I must remember various other bits and bobs such as sunglasses, a note pad, camera, bug spray (I've been told there are loads of bugs which surprised me) and there won't be any showers so I'd better take some wet wipes! I'm planning my garden at the moment so I'll also take my Bloms Bulbs catalogue to read on the plane. And of course I mustn't forget my Dad!
I promise to write another blog when I get back and I'll post lots of pictures.
Love Katie
x
Hi everyone
Been a while since I've been in touch, but I have a very exciting reason to write.
Tomorrow I am boarding a plane for Ottawa, Canada where I will meet up with Buzz Aldrin again. I first met Buzz earlier this year when I went to visit CERN in Switzerland. We were given a tour of the Large Hadron Collider which was an incredible experience. The trip was arranged by Opel (Vauxhall) and Buzz is a patron of Project Earth which is Opel's initiative to raise environmental awareness. As you can imagine, it was amazing to meet one of the first men on the moon and I couldn't believe how happy he was to answer all the questions about landing on the moon, he must get asked them all the time.
In Ottawa I will also meet thirteen people who successfully applied to join Project Earth's expedition. The expedition is going to four endangered zones or ecosystems – the savannah, the rainforest, the pacific and the Arctic. They started last week in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania so I'm looking forward to hearing about their experiences and what they saw and learnt. Buzz will be hosting a discussion with the expedition team about the first leg in Tanzania and also the remaining destinations of the expedition including the Arctic.
This is probably the most exciting thing I've ever done. We will be going to the Canadian Arctic to learn about the preservation of local species, and to see the effect that we all have on this fragile ecosystem.
We will travel to Pond Inlet which is an Inuit hamlet in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut in Canada. This will be the base camp for the next three days and we will be camping - I'm sure that Arctic camping will be a very, very different experience to the camping that I have done before. We will be accompanied by the members of the local Inuit community and by two people from World Wildlife Fund Canada - Martin Von Mirbach who is the director of their Canadian Arctic programme and Pete Ewins who is the Senior Officer of Species. We will have lectures, guided tours and expeditions and will experience the ice, the polar sea, the coastline and the mainland so I'll really get to see the full range of the landscape and wildlife.
I am looking forward to learning about the Inuits and their culture and how they live in what seems to me to be such harsh conditions. I've heard that they have an unusual way of singing called throat singing so I'm curious to see and hear that. My Dad is coming with me, he is a real adventurer at heart so when I first heard about the trip I knew I had to have him with me. It will be amazing if we get to see whales and other local wildlife in their natural environment.
I expect that I will come back really awed by what I've seen and inspired to continue working for the environment, with a first-hand understanding of the effects of climate change and global warming.
To read more about Project Earth go to www.opelprojectearth.com and at www.facebook.com/OpelProjectEarth. You can also follow the expedition's blog at http://opelprojectearth.posterous.com/
I better go cos I have to pack. I'll be given outdoor clothing like jackets, thermals and boots but I must remember various other bits and bobs such as sunglasses, a note pad, camera, bug spray (I've been told there are loads of bugs which surprised me) and there won't be any showers so I'd better take some wet wipes! I'm planning my garden at the moment so I'll also take my Bloms Bulbs catalogue to read on the plane. And of course I mustn't forget my Dad!
I promise to write another blog when I get back and I'll post lots of pictures.
Love Katie
x
