On September 22, 2018, a group of dedicated adventurers from Nova Scotia travelled to Ecuador for the third Expedition for the Earth trek.

The Expedition for the Earth is a fundraising adventure trek where a team raises funds for conservation in Nova Scotia while exploring some of the most fascinating natural destinations around the world. This year the trek takes place in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots: Ecuador. The team spent months leading up to the Expedition creatively raising funds and one participant, Henry Fuller tripled his fundraising goal, raising an incredible $8,000 for conservation in Nova Scotia.

Henry Fuller was the first person to sign up for the Nature Trust’s third Expedition to Ecuador and was excited to be able to celebrate 20 years as a volunteer on the Nature Trust Board of Directors along with his 72nd birthday! “Travelling to protected places around the world and seeing their diversity is truly inspiring. It makes you appreciate what we have right here in Nova Scotia and how important it is to protect it. The chance to help protect special places in Nova Scotia while visiting a part of the world that has always been on my bucket list is an opportunity I would not have missed,” said Henry.

Mike Lancaster, Stewardship Coordinator for the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association and Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization was also part of the Expedition for the Earth team and has worked in partnership with the Nature Trust for 6 years on the stewardship of Troop Island. During this time he saw first-hand the Nature Trust’s commitment to the preservation of Nova Scotia’s most ecologically significant special places.
“When I first heard about the Expedition for the Earth, I knew I wanted to participate, it was just a matter of when. After discovering that 2018’s Expedition for the Earth was taking place in Ecuador, where I would get to safely explore with the expert guidance of Wally Berg, while raising money for one of my favourite organizations in Nova Scotia– I knew I was all in.”

International adventure travel company Berg Adventures International has led the Nature Trust’s previous two adventures to Patagonia in 2013 and Iceland in 2016 and this trek to Ecuador was once again expertly guided by Berg Adventures founder, Wally Berg. Wally is an accomplished mountaineer who has completed several ascents of the world’s highest peaks and led countless treks around the world. “I was thrilled to partner with the Nature Trust once again and to bring adventurers to one of my favorite places in the world- Ecuador. The rich diversity is every nature-lover’s dream, and the lush, green landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful,” said Wally Berg.

The team undertook the 7 day trek across the cloud forests and upper amazon basin exploring fascinating crater lakes and dormant volcanoes. To date the Expedition for the Earth fundraising treks have raised over $100,000 for conservation in Nova Scotia.
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