Expeditioners Raise Over $37,000 For The South Georgia Heritage Trust!

Our recently-finished Antarctica and South Georgia season was a particularly fruitful one, with expeditioners helping to raise much-needed funds for the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT).

Auctioneers aboard the Polar Pioneer made it their quest to keep the bidding going as the lively auctions went through the night. Bidders battled it out with fellow shipmates for a number of one-of-a kind items, giving generously to eventually raise a staggering US$37,176 throughout the season.

Some of the most popular items up for auction included stunning photographic prints kindly donated by our onboard photographers, a variety of signed maps and books, plus a whole heap of Shackleton-inspired goodies!

Read more: A brief history of South Georgia

What does the South Georgia Heritage Trust do?

The funds will go towards the SGHT’s Habitat Restoration Project, working to save South Georgia’s native inhabitants by eradicating rodents from the entire island. The rats, which arrived to the island as stowaways on sealing and whaling ships, had a catastrophic effect on the local bird population.

With Climate Change having the added effect of melting the glacier barriers, it was feared that the few remaining rodent-free areas would quickly overrun the island and the remaining bird populations would suffer the consequences.

Read more: 5 reasons why South Georgia should be on your itinerary

The good news though is that thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts like Aurora Expeditions’ passengers, it is believed that South Georgia may now be completely rat-free. A few years more years of monitoring is still needed however to confirm this.

Well done to everyone who donated to the project and for helping South Georgia to remain a pristine, biologically-diverse place for many years to come!

Find out more and donate today