Sacha Dench heads to south-west Scotland to find out more about one farmer’s rewilding plan and the campaign for a Galloway National Park. The Round Britain Climate Challenge is the first ever circumnavigation attempt of mainland Britain with an electric paramotor – an adventurous expedition created by Sacha Dench (UN Ambassador for Convention on Migratory Species, CMS and Founder of Conservation Without Borders ) to draw attention to climate issues at home.
The official launch was at the Glasgow Science Centre on the 18th June 2021. Sacha and her team will be available to talk with ( between 11am and 4pm) , host school visits, and reveal the secrets behind the green powered journey
This groundbreaking 3,000 mile plus expedition will travel anti-clockwise around Britain, ending back in Glasgow around six weeks later. This daring expedition is designed to inspire and excite the nation to get involved in tackling the climate crisis in the run up to COP26.
Sacha will take off (weather permitting) on the expedition from Loch Lomond on the expedition on 21st June following some practice flying and team training
‘Human Swan’ Sacha Dench, known for global expeditions with migratory species, turned her focus to climate change for this expedition after losing her family home in the Australian bushfires.
She will be landing frequently, talking with, filming, and gathering information from industry, innovators and entrepreneurs, local heroes, communities, schools, farmers and individuals – anybody involved in addressing the effects of climate change in their areas. A compilation of these stories will be presented at COP26 in Glasgow in November.
⦁ Sacha will attempt to set a new Guinness World Records Title for the fastest (and first) flight around Britain in a paramotor. It will also be a first for an electric paramotor.
⦁ A second Guinnes World Records Title attempt will aim to inspire at least 140,001 people to take personal climate action between 18 June and 17 July as part of the global campaign Count Us In (https://www.count-us-in.org/). On achieving this, every participant will get a badge recognising their contribution to setting a world record.
Sacha says:
“This is the first time an electric paramotor will ever have been used in a long journey – and it’s going to be an exciting challenge.
“I want to capture the imaginations of the young and old, rural and urban, and focus on answers to the climate crisis – not problems – and encourage everyone, to get involved. Just one person pledging to take an action through Count Us In will help us get that second Guineess World Record too!
“As well as investigating how climate change is affecting different regions of the country, we will be showing – in a visually stunning and exciting way – what is happing to help cut carbon and preserve and restore our environment. We’ll be finding the likely and unlikely heroes and discovering where and what works.”
Among the places (the exact partly depends on weather conditions) Sacha will visit is Neil and Patricia Picken’s Balmangan Farm and Solway View Campsite. Sacha will be landing and camping in their Paradise field and will learn more about their plans to rewild Balmangan farm.
Neil, who is also a Trustee of the Galloway National Park Association (GNPA), says: “We are really looking forward to welcoming Sacha and her team and to telling them about our plans for the farm and our hopes for a future National Park for Galloway.
“With COP26 on the horizon, it’s all the more important that our governments pay attention to the work of people like Sacha, who have dedicated their lives to the protection of our environment – and the world’s magnificent wildlife.
“We believe that the creation of a Galloway National Park would show Scotland’s determination to protect our own environment and work with partners around the world to combat climate change.”
