We met the OurEcho Challenge winners.

Today we met the global youth movement who are protecting and restoring our ocean planet.

Carney and Fleur and have had the pleasure of joining SilverShark Media's global network this week and today we headed up to Rochdale in Lancashire to meet OurEcho Challenge UK winners at Falinge Park High School.

Falinge Park High School won the top £5,000 prize for their project: to increase the amount of sphagnum moss in local peat bogs to make a positive impact on biodiversity and air quality.  Young leaders at the school first identified threats to local ecosystems and then proposed solutions to help preserve, protect, or repair those natural resources.  The team’s community council has a goal to 'restore 50-75% of peatland by 2038' so they are taking small steps to make a big difference as well as make their school a better place for all living things. 

Rose Edmondson, who mentored the team, said: "We are absolutely over the moon to have won the £5,000 prize which will go such a long way to help us work with so many community partners to help improve biodiversity in Rochdale and help to replenish moss in the North West.  "I am incredibly proud of our team who have worked so hard and we are exceptionally excited to work with the EarthEcho International team to start putting our ideas into action."

Thanks to the incredibly talented Jason Evans, today we got to ask them all about it.  Filming on our Canon C300 Mk III and SilverShark's Sony FX3 we interviewed some of the staff and pupils at the school.  The sound was recorded beautifully by Matt Morris and we flew our DJI drone to capture the environment the school is helping to protect.

The OurEcho Challenge is a STEM competition that empowers young changemakers to take a closer look at biodiversity in their communities.  It is run by nonprofit EarthEcho International and has been running in the USA for three years.

EarthEcho founder Philippe Cousteau Jr. said: “The 2023 OurEcho Challenge grand prize winners impressed our judges with their in-depth knowledge of local biodiversity issues and their vision in developing viable solutions tailored to their communities.