Flight of The Swans

Sacha’s epic migration saw her cross the wilderness of the arctic tundra, endure injury, brave freezing temperatures, and battle through snow and thunder storms to make it back to the UK.

The Journey

Sacha and the expedition team flew the Bewick’s entire flyway, often at altitudes as low as 100m on a voyage that lasted three months and provided a birds eye view on the challenges facing these critically endangered birds.

Once they’d safely navigated the vast Russian tundra – and its polar bears – Sacha and the team continued to track the swans’ progress through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and France. When Sacha completed the flight from the French coast to England, she became the first woman to successfully cross the English Channel by paramotor.

Why It Matters

Between 1995 and 2010 numbers of swans making the migration from arctic Russia to northern Europe plummeted by more than a third – from 29,000 to just 18,000.

By joining the Bewick’s on their migration, Sacha and the expedition team were able to see for themselves just why swans are unable to survive the journey.

Through Flight of the Swans WWT gathered first-hand evidence and information that, combined with existing research, is contributing to life-saving conservation action right along the Bewick’s migratory flyway.

We WON!

Flight of the Swans won Campaign of the Year at the 2017 ENDS Environmental Impact Awards. Sacha was there at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London to accept the award. The judging panel apparently chose Flight of the Swans for the scale of its ambition, huge profile and international reach.

It is the first year that long-running environment magazine, the ENDS Report, has run the awards. Thank you to all our partners and supporters for the roles you’ve played in making a success of Flight of the Swans.