Darwin200 expedition: Darwin's voyage across 32 ports recreated by young environmentalists

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00:00 it's crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

00:02 Now the Darwin 200 expedition has reached one of its most important destinations,

00:07 Rio de Janeiro.

00:08 This is just one of 32 ports visited by Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle.

00:14 Using his voyage as a reference,

00:15 the objective is to train the best young conservationists of the world.

00:19 Naturally speaking,

00:21 the inspiration is derived from the namesake of the project.

00:24 When you say the word Charles Darwin, many people remember

00:27 an old man with a beard that wrote lots of important books on evolution and other subjects.

00:32 But of course when he started this five-year voyage around the world,

00:36 he was a little older than this, he was 22 years old,

00:39 and went on this incredible journey

00:41 to discover so many different aspects of natural history and science.

00:46 At each stop, a group of carefully selected young naturalists

00:49 arrive and meet with local scientists,

00:52 promoting an exchange of scientific knowledge and environmental activism.

00:56 I come from a focus of marine mammals and physical oceanography,

01:02 and now I will be learning about the invading corals and sea turtles.

01:06 The Osterschralde ship serves as a base from where local expeditions take place,

01:13 spending two weeks at each port,

01:15 like here in Tenerife, where participants study the situation of pilot whales.

01:20 Overfishing has completely depicted our fish stocks in the ocean,

01:24 so the more we overfish, the less food there is in the ocean for animals like whales.

01:28 From reforestation and monkey reintroduction,

01:31 to dolphin and bird population studies,

01:34 up to 200 young naturalists are expected to participate,

01:37 hoping, just like Darwin, to change the world of tomorrow.

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