Explorer Mike Horn is but one man on a big planet. He should know, he’s trekked across much of it. His latest project is an attempt to share his experience with the world, and in some small way make it a better place.

His 35m sailing yacht, Pangaea has been designed as the largest polar exploration sail boat ever built and over the next four years will visit five continents, including the North and South Poles.

His crew will include young people hand-picked from around the world to take part in his environmental adventure. He’s confident that by inspiring the future generation to take environmental issues seriously they will return home to make a real and significant difference.

The boat itself has been designed to have as little impact on the environment as possible, and as well as recycling their own waste, they will be gathering up some of the mass of garbage that floats around the world’s oceans, to be compacted on board, and recycled on their return.

But the real challenge will be to understand the important environmental issues that affect the world’s most sensitive areas, from ice-caps to rain forests, and from deserts to rivers.

Applications for the Young Explorers Programme will be able to be made online at www.mikehorn.com where you can also learn more about the project.