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Unnar in the rainforest

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A bit about me
My name is Unnar Karl Ævarsson and I am from Iceland, but I am currently finishing my second year in Zoology at University of Roehampton in London. I have been obsessed with reptiles and amphibians from a very young age, unfortunately Iceland is the only country in Europe that has no wild amphibians or reptiles. That didn’t stop me from keeping them as pets and I finally decided to move to London to study Zoology.
Along with my studies I volunteer at ZSL London Zoo’s Reptiles house and the Aquarium, it is without a doubt my favourite days of the week.
My obsession with these amazing animals has increased throughout the years and I am particularly a big fan of snakes, so much that I share a flat with four of them.
It has been a lifelong dream for me to visit a rainforest and I finally have a chance to do so!

 

The expedition and my role there
Operation Wallacea is a research organization that does biodiversity surveys worldwide and I will be going with them to Guyana in south America as a volunteer research assistant. I will spend 4 weeks there helping with wildlife surveys where we sample amphibians, reptiles, large mammals, birds, bats, insects and forests. There surveys are important to see the impact of selective logging in the forest and see the long-term changes in the forests biodiversity. These big data sets will then be compared to other parts of the forest where selective logging is not allowed to see if there are any differences between them.
I will spend the majority of the time in the Iwokrama forest which is one of the most untouched forests in the world, there we will stay in hammocks surrounded by wildlife. These camps are remote with no electricity and are far away from civilization which will make the stay very interesting. Our last days we will spend doing surveys in the Burro Burro River monitoring arapaima’s and giant river otters.
This expedition will be very educational for me and I will learn from professionals on how to prepare and perform biodiversity surveys, the importance of rainforest conservation and learn about the incredible diverse wildlife there.
While I save money and prepare for the expedition I am going to challenge myself to lose 10kg (22 pounds) before my departure, not only will it be healthy for me, but I can deal with the extreme heat in Guyana a little bit better and get in shape for all the trekking we will do.  
If you are interested in helping me fund the expedition then I can assure you that this website takes safety serious and is 100% secure to make donations.
I will hopefully have a nice collection of photos from Guyana when I come back and I will share them on my Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/unnarkarl for people to look at if interested, I will also update people on my mini challenge before my departure! Please don´t hesitate to contact me via Facebook  if you have any questions at all about me, the trip or even if you just want to have a chat, preferably about snakes ;)



Breakdown of fees
I have already paid for the flight and 1/5 of the expedition fees, however I need help with the rest of my fees. Every penny would help and be greatly appreciated!

·         £311 (2 nights at a hotel and travel from there to the forest)

·         £1800 (Operation Wallacea fees for the expedition)

·         £360 (Vaccines + Antimalarial medication)

·         £150 (Gear: Boots, clothing, rucksack etc.)

Thank you for taking the time to read through my GoFundMe page, if you have a few extra minutes then check out the video from Operation Wallacea that I posted at the top.

Have a great day!

Donations 

  • Siggi og Kristín Siggi
    • £75 
    • 6 yrs

Organizer

Unnar Karl Aevarsson
Organizer

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