David de Rothschild

Note to self: In future, arrive 15min late for festivals to avoid the predictable, boring introductory speeches.

The opening act at the Banff 2007 Mountain Book Festival was quite entertaining, and refreshingly open-minded for an environmentalist. This is no Al Gore clone.

David de Rothschild

Adventure Ecology

Britain’s David de Rothschild has traversed Antarctica, has set a new record for the fastest crossing of the Greenland icecap, and has reached the North Pole. He is both an adventurer and an environmentalist, and at 29, he is the head of Adventure Ecology, an expedition group he founded to raise awareness about environmental issues and climate change.

Following a 2004 Antarctica expedition, de Rothschild came to the realization that he could create a deeper understanding of the natural world through incorporating education as the main vein running through his adventures. “I spent three months surrounded by one of the world’s most astonishing and fragile ecosystems, and it had a profound effect on my outlook and on those with whom I shared my experience.”

In 2005 he launched Adventure Ecology, and now uses his adventures to captivate, to inspire, and to share information about the environment. Adventure Ecology’s goal is to create a greater connection with the natural world through a series of high-profile expeditions. The associated website features videos and information from live expeditions, as well as blogs and interactive games that act as a gateway for children to learn about global environmental issues. The focus on children is deliberate. “There’s a native Indian proverb that says we don’t inherit the Earth, we borrow it from our children,” says de Rothschild. “Curiosity is a great driver of change. But in protecting our children, we’ve also made it very hard for them to go out and experience nature. That’s something our website can address.”

The first mission in the series, “Top of the World”, began in March 2006. With a four-member team, de Rothschild traversed the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada. Mission 2 is called “Adventures in Waste” and will include a series of expeditions in 2007 and 2008 with scientists, artists, and filmmakers to some of the world’s most environmentally troubled areas — from the site of an oil spill in Ecuador to heavily polluted areas in China’s Henan province. The series will culminate with a sailing trip from Hawaii to California, raising awareness of the little-known fact that the largest accumulation of garbage in the world can be found in the Pacific Ocean. “We’ll sail a boat made entirely from recycled bottles to document the massive problem of ocean trash.”

De Rothschild was selected as one of National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers for 2007, and as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. He has written educational books for children, created a naturopathic/ecological education centre in New Zealand, and founded “Sculpt the Future”, a charitable organization working with environmentally disadvantaged communities.

Mountain Festivals at The Banff Centre