GCT’s President Monty Halls returns to Galapagos with his family for series two of My Family & The Galapagos

It’s been two years since GCT’s President and marine biologist, Monty Halls, his wife Tam and daughters Molly and Isla travelled to one of the most unique and ecologically important places on the planet – Galapagos. Now, with concern for the planet a global issue, the family are heading back!

Galapagos Conservation Trust has many impactful projects that are tackling the most pressing issues facing the Galapagos Islands. Just like in the first series, Monty and his family will be exploring some of the pressing issues facing Galapagos and visiting some of GCT’s projects. The Halls family will join some of the conservationists and scientists striving to protect the Galapagos Islands, including some of GCT’s science partners, and discovering how Galapagos is inspiring solutions that could help the whole planet.

We’re working with partners to restore the island of Floreana back to its former glory through our Restoring Floreana Programme. The Floreana mockingbird is locally extinct on its namesake island and only survives on small islets. During the show, Tam visits Gardner islet with Enzo Rodrigues Reyes, who works as part of our Floreana mockingbird project and wider Restoring Floreana Programme.

This is a critical time for sharks globally. They are facing increasing pressures including industrial fishing, key nursery habitat loss and plastic pollution. The Galapagos Marine Reserve is unique in its high abundance of endangered scalloped hammerhead, silky and whale sharks. Through our Endangered Sharks of Galapagos Programme, we’re supporting research to protect these vulnerable sharks. During their time on the Islands, Isla becomes a young field assistant helping Monty, and GCT science partner Lauren Goodman, to tag baby hammerheads in the mangroves, which features as part of our Endangered Sharks of Galapagos programme.

Monty takes a trip with award-winning Galapagos guide and friend of GCT Pablo Valladares to the highlands. Pablo will be joining us as an expert guide on our two-week Galapagos cruise in June 2020. There is one cabin left, so if the show leaves you inspired to visit some of GCT’s projects for yourself, you can find out more here.

One of the most pressing issues facing Galapagos right now is plastic pollution. We’re working on an ambitious, long-term Plastic Pollution Free Galapagos Programme that will combine ground-breaking scientific research with coordinated education and outreach in order to make Galapagos plastic pollution-free once again. GCT’s science partners Kathy Townsend and Juan Pablo Muñoz Perez are joined by the Tam, Isla and Molly as investigate how marine plastic is affecting some of Galapagos’ unique wildlife.

And of course, no trip to Galapagos would be complete without seeing one of the most iconic species in the Archipelago, the Galapagos giant tortoise. Driven to extinction on some islands and the brink of extinction on others, tortoises are slowly recovering but remain threatened. We are supporting the Giant Tortoise Movement Ecology Programme to improve our understanding of the ecology of these iconic reptiles in order to inform future conservation strategies.

The show will be running for four episodes starting on Sunday 9 February at 8pm on Channel 4.