My biology teacher has organised a trip to Equador and the Galapagos Islands for a two-week expedition to help with biodiversity studies run by Operation Wallacea. The expedition will take the group to the remote lowland Amazonian forests of Equador and for the second week, to the Galapagos Islands. Visitation to these areas is limited due to ecotourism.

For the first part of the expedition, we will be working with scientists and academics to survey the Nenkepare forests, home of the Huaorani Ameridians. These forests are under threat from oil extraction, and further evidence is still needed of their biological importance so their conservation status can be upgraded, therefore adding another layer of protection to them. We will be helping with various biodiversity surveys, including bird mist netting and soundscape analysis, fish community surveys, herpetofauna surveys, camera traps for large mammals, small mammal trapping and forest structure surveys. We will also take part in an Amazonian wildlife ecology course, and have the opportunity to be introduced to Sami Indian communities to learn about their culture and customs.

For the second week, we will fly to the Galapagos Islands, and complete a Galapagos Island ecology course. This course will cover topics such as The Voyage of the HMS Beagle and how the Galapagos influenced Darwin's theory of evolution, Darwin's finches and measuring evolutionary change, threats to the survival of the islands, island extinction and conservation success stories, tourism impacts on the island and key species in the marine environment. We will have lectures on these topics which will be followed up by field visits to the sites around the islands they are based. Some field visits will involve snorkelling, and there will be the opportunity to go scuba diving.

It is possible to the use the expedition to gain extra UCAS points by doing an EPQ or extended essay project, and the expedition covers key aspects of biology, geography and environmental science syllabuses.

The cost of the trip is £3,000.00. The cost is extensive, in the main, due to the cost of travelling to the Galapagos Islands.

I am studying A-levels; Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and Geography alongside GCSE Russian. I hope to study medicine at university.

I will do all I can to raise the money needed for this trip.

Galapagos - Operation Wallacea

Ecuador - Operation Wallacea

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