Charlie Pascoe bushwalking in Australia’s Northern Territory in 2023

Charlie Pascoe, a member of the 43rd Marion Island team, is now a “Wandering Albatross Ambassador” for the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project, having sponsored a total of 102 hectares, as recorded on the project’s online Honour Roll.  Significantly, 100 ha came in the form of a “Double your Donation” challenge to mark World Albatross Day on 19 June last year, to which the seabird guiding company Cape Town Pelagics added a further 10-ha sponsorship.   This successful campaign resulted in 220 ha being sponsored (click here).  The matching funds were utilised within 13 days, with sponsorships continuing throughout the rest of the month in response to the challenge, bringing in an overall total of 343 ha.

Following the matching campaign’s success, MFM News reached out to Charlie to learn more about him and why he decided to support the MFM Project so generously.  In reply he writes: “I live in the Buckland Valley in the foothills of the Alpine region of Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne.  I was a member of the 43rd Team (M43) on Marion Island during 1986/87.  On the island I worked as a field assistant for the Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, helping collect information on the breeding ecology of Southern Elephant Seals.  It was the also the first year of the intensive effort to hunt feral cats, to which I also contributed.  As it has been for so many young expeditioners, my time on Marion Island was a life-changing experience.  It helped me develop knowledge, skills, confidence and independence that were invaluable for establishing a career in conservation and the protection of natural areas.”

Members of the Marion Island 43rd combined wintering and summering Team (M43, 1986/87). Charlie Pascoe is on the right in the back row. Photograph from the South African National Antarctic Programme

Charlie continues “On returning to Australia, from 1988 to 2024 I worked for Victorian Government agencies in biodiversity and protected area management.  My key interests have been in threatened species, community management and invasive species control, but I have also been involved in a wide array of other areas of conservation and park management.”

“On leaving Parks Victoria in 2024, I decided to use some of my retirement package to support four conservation organisations that were important to me, one of which was the MFM Project.  I’d made a few contributions to MFM previously and my daughter Penny had also sponsored a hectare as a birthday gift to me.  During discussions with the MFM team, I suggested a matching donation campaign and was pleased the idea fell on fertile ground.”

Charlie Pascoe with his daughter Penny before her departure last November for a year at Australia’s Casey Station in Antarctica

Charlie ends by writing “Being immersed in the nature, wilderness and rugged beauty of Marion Island for nine months created indelible memories that have helped carry me through life’s challenges over nearly four decades.  I am forever grateful for the privilege of experiencing this amazing place and to my fellow team members who contributed to the incredible experiences we shared together.  My contributions to the Mouse-Free Marion Project are a small way of giving thanks for my wonderful time on Marion Island”.

The MFM team is most grateful for the support received from Charlie Pascoe, and from many members of Marion Island’s past teams.  You are all ambassadors for the project!

John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 10 February 2026

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Grey-headed Albatrosses on Marion Island. Artwork by Maureen Rousseau of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for the MFM Project, after a photograph by Michelle Risi

The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean.  The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.  Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate.  For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.