Kane joins green crusade

INAUGURAL EXPEDITION: The 2014 Young Blake Expedition crew that completed critical surveying and planning work required for the proposed Blake Station site on the Subantarctic Auckland Islands on the first expedition of its kind in February.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Wairarapa College student Kane Minnell has won a berth at the 11th annual Sir Peter Blake Youth EnviroLeaders Forum in Wellington.

Kane, 17, will join 49 other environmentally-focused teenagers to learn more about ocean health and climate change at the forum in Wellington for five days from April 27.

As a forum participant Kane is also eligible to be selected for the next Subantarctic Young Blake Expedition. The first expedition was held in February, when students conducted critical surveying and planning work required for consent for the proposed Blake Station site on the Subantarctic Auckland Islands.

New Zealand Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae is planning to travel to the proposed station site with the second expedition, which is set to take place next February.

Shelley Campbell, chief executive of the Sir Peter Blake Trust, said Kane was selected from about 200 applicants vying for a spot at the forum and Sir Peter Blake "would be incredibly proud to see how passionate these young New Zealanders are about the environment".

"During his sailing career, Sir Peter noticed critical changes taking place in the marine environment and started Blakexpeditions to draw global attention to these issues," Ms Campbell said.

"He was also passionate about inspiring young people to take up leadership opportunities and challenge themselves to set and achieve audacious goals, which is a big part of the annual Youth EnviroLeaders Forum.

Previous Youth EnviroLeaders Forums have given hundreds of Year 11 to 13 students the opportunity to learn how to solve real environmental issues as part of a team and to challenge themselves to get outside their comfort zones, she said.

"It's wonderful to see how much these young people grow as future environmental leaders over the course of the forum."

The forum is run in conjunction with the Ministry for the Environment and allows students the opportunity to be involved in a range of activities including a climate change workshop with the Ministry for the Environment, leadership development course with the NZ Defence Force at Trentham and lessons on ocean health from scientific, economic, fisheries, recreation and iwi perspectives, making a presentation to the Minister for the Environment Amy Adams at the Beehive and attending a workshop at the new climate research base, Blake Station.

Later this year, students selected for the forum also have the opportunity to apply to be part of the second Young Blake Expedition to the Subantarctic Auckland Islands.