South Georgia Heritage Trust
The South Georgia Heritage Trust was established in 2005 to preserve the natural and man-made heritage of South Georgia. It has with two primary purposes:
- To help efforts to conserve and protect those species of indigenous fauna and flora that breed and grow on South Georgia or in the surrounding seas and to raise awareness of South Georgia's threatened species
- To assist efforts to preserve the historical heritage of South Georgia, including selected historical sites of importance, and increase international awareness of the human history of the island through the South Georgia Museum.
The Trust works with volunteers on the island and to assist the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in its conservation efforts, given the limited income the government has at its disposal and its limited reach (being based in the Falkland Islands).
Organisation
The Trust is registered as a charity in Scotland,[1] It has a branch in Norway and representation in the United States of America. The Trust is gioverned by a board of ten international trustees, who administer the Trust's funds in pursuit of its primary purposes. The main office is within Dundee's industrial museum, Verdant Works.
Projects
- The Habitat Restoration Project seeks to eliminate rats from South Georgia. In the days of whaling, the whaling stations were teeming with rats. Today, rats pose a serious risk to nesting birds.
- Norwegian heritage: The whaling industry was led by Norwegians, and the Trust's Norwegian branch raises funds, for such projects as the restoration of the whaling manager's villa at Husvik.
- South Georgia Museum: The Trust maintains the South Georgia Museum in Grytviken.
- Shackleton: The Trust maintains Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave in the cemetery by the whaling station at Grytviken. Also, they have placed in the Carr Maritime Gallery at the South Georgia Museum a replica of the James Caird, the lifeboat on which Shackleton and five of his men crosses the Southern Ocean from Elephant Island to South Georgia.
The whaling manager's villa at Husvik is now a base used by scientists and expeditions for research and exploration of the island's interior.
Outside links
References
- ↑ South Georgia Heritage Trust - Registered Charity no. SC036819 at the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
