Chris Burman is a Greenpeace New Zealand street fundraiser. He has personally gathered 7,595 signatures for Greenpeace’s Save the Arctic petition . That made him a world-beater in Greenpeace street campaigning circles, and won him a trip to the Arctic Circle, aboard the Greenpeace vessel the Arctic Sunrise. Below is the first of a series of blogs on his experience. Each is a few days old, because of the delays in getting an internet service aboard the ship - the region is incredibly remote, after all.
I am being told that the trip will start in Longyearbyen (Norway) and will go around (the Arctic island of) Svalbard to bear witness of the changing Arctic.
It may include:
- A visit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (the vault was created to replant the world in case of a global nuclear winter).
- Sailing to the science station at New Alesund, and helping document glacial retreat in Blomstrand Halvoya/New Holland.
- Wildlife spotting
- Bearing witness of the industrialisation of the Arctic in the area of Pyramiden.
You can imagine how excited I am. Please watch this space, I will do my best to post pictures, videos and follow-up stories. I am indeed part of one the most wonderful organisations in this day and age! Let’s save the Arctic!
Christopher Burman
GPNZ Aotearoa