The Lost World Project - the Participant Experience

The Lost World Project - the Particpants Experience - an Extract...

If you've been following the Ibex Earth Blog you will be aware that in August 2010 we sent a critically acclaimed film crew to Mount Roraima, Venezuela to shoot a broadcast quality documentary about the plateau that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his famous novel 'The Lost World'.

But did you know that ten people from across the UK won a place on the expedition after spending six months fundraising to help Ibex Earth secure the funding to make the film. Walking non-stop across Hadrian's Wall, cycling the length of the UK and having a duel on Tower Bridge were just some of the brilliant fundraising ideas that got the ten lucky participants onto the plane to Caracas, Venezuela.

The following is an extract taken from a document prepared by the participants with absolutely no input from Ibex Earth - the completed document will soon be up on the Ibex Earth website and will contain exclusive pictures from the participants time on Roraima's summit. 

And so it began...

We left for our 16-­‐day Venezuelan adventure and the wild blue yonder on the 20th August 2010. After 5 flights, two day-­‐long bus journeys (with a sleepover at Canaima National Park headquarters – otherwise known as a collection of huts) and a delightfully bumpy 4x4 trip to the remote Amerindian village of Paratepui we were ready to start the real adventure, our 10-­‐day trek to explore and film Mount Roraima and all her wonders!


Sadly, Roraima was shy and didn’t come out of the clouds until we reached our second camp, Rio Tok
at the end of the first day!


Luckily we had a spectacular vista of Kukenan ­‐ Roraima’s neighbouring plateau ‐ to remind us why
the blisters were going to be worth it!


Our first day saw us passing through hot, dry savannah with sporadic but much needed breaks under the towering canopies of rainforest that sprout up around small rivers which cut across the undulating uninhabited lowlands that characterised the terrain of our first encounter with trekking on the trip.

To be continued....

The fantastic participants of The Lost World Project

Ibex Earth launches the 'Beyond Carbon' Group

The Ibex Earth 'Beyond Carbon' Group

Ibex Earth is delighted to announce the launch of the 'Beyond Carbon' Group, which aims to become the leading environmental network for businesses that wish to demonstrate a genuine commitment to 'green' issues.

The BCG's primary objective is to engage with international/City-based businesses from all sectors and move away from the current trend of focussing upon carbon reduction initiatives.

Instead he BCG is set to encourage a shift in corporate thinking and encourage businesses to work on protecting the global environment and its ecosystems. For example, BCG Members can utilise the unique skill sets of their employees to provide free support, advice and assistance to an array of environmental charities.

To achieve this the BCG focuses upon four key areas - the environment, biodiversity, conservation and sustainability - and collaboration with Ibex Earth's 'Environmental & Conservation' Partners to provide BCG Members with the opportunity to work on innovative and unique environmental projects, share best practice through the dynamic BCG Network and fulfil corporate social responsibility objectives in relation to the environment.

Aims & Objectives of the 'Beyond Carbon' Group

* To create a dynamic environmental network of leading professional businesses and environmental organisations from a variety of sectors.

* To develop and establish projects to help protect and sustainably manage the natural ecosystems of the world, in particular, in the world's biodiversity 'hotspots' with emphasis on threatened habitats and endangered species.

* To utilise the unique skill sets of professional businesses in order to provide free support, advice and assistance to Ibex Earth's 'Environmental & Conservation' Partners in order to improve the broader environmental picture.

* To raise awareness, in the UK and globally, of the need for conservation, greater environmental protection and reducing pollution by improving understanding and generating support through education, information and fundraising.

* To establish a regular series of seminars and events to disseminate knowledge and share best practice through a proactive peer to peer network.

If you are interested in finding out more about Ibex Earth's 'Beyond Carbon' Group then please contact Chris Livemore by emailing chris.livemore@ibexearth.com

A few more pictures from The Lost World

Some great photos taken by Lost World participant Shikha Bhakoo - for more images taken during our time on Mount Roraima why not visit the Ibex Earth Facebook site -

New Lost World Video by Robbie Miles

Wanted to provide you all with a fantastic overview of The Lost World Project by competition winner Robbie Miles - all shot on his own digital camera, some amazing footage and a great commentary about his experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPWf2HQpkc

Discoveries from the 'Lost World'

Just a very quick overview about the possible new discoveries that The Lost World Expedition uncovered during August 2010 - potentially four new species have been found! We will upload images of each of these finds in future blogs.

1. A new hybrid pitcher plant, which has never before been found on the summit of Mount Roraima. This plant is particularly interesting because although it is a hybrid, the population we found were clearly stable and reproducing, giving rise to a new species. This find not only reveals a plant that is new to science on Roraima, but also exemplifies how many species first develop, including in the 21st century, as is the case here.

2. A new, unnamed species of pitcher plant on Mount Roraima. We have obtained some footage filmed during a helicopter journey from Mount Roraima to a neighbouring plateau called Yuruani. We filmed Stewart McPherson jumping out of the helicopter and searching for the plant on the summit of the mountain, to find the plant which had never been filmed before. We captured some fantastic shots of the plant and also material showing how the plant captures animal prey.

3. We filmed a weasel on the summit of Mount Roraima. Absolutely no mammals in any way related to, or resembling weasels are currently known from the summit of Mount Roraima, and for certain this is a completely new record. We still do not know if it is a new species or not, but this may be a supplemental point showing how little explored the lost worlds are, and how still today, we do not know the range of animal life found atop of the plateaus.

4. The plated millipedes, which have a black body, with scarlet plates, which we found atop Roraima have not been identified by the leading millipede expert of North America, and he has suggested that these represent a whole new genus!