Kate Rawles cycled the length of South America following the spine of the Andes – the longest mountain chain in the world – on Woody, a bamboo bike she built herself with bamboo from the Eden Project in Cornwall. The aim of her largely solo ‘adventure plus’ ride was to explore and champion biodiversity - what it is, why it matters, what’s happening to it and above all, what can be done to protect it. Her route took her through an astonishing range of landscapes and ecosystems, from the Caribbean coast to the classic high, spikey white mountains of the Peruvian Andes; from rain and cloud forests to the Atacama desert and the Bolivian salt flats. Throughout the journey she met with those at the frontlines of nature conservation, including a school whose entire curriculum was based on turtles; a project to save the smallest monkeys in the world; local forest champions; anti-gold, copper and lead-mining activists; an ancient, sustainable fishing fleet and a member of the Peruvian senate. Kate returned inspired, shaken and hopeful, convinced that biodiversity loss is as important as climate change and that deep systemic change is needed to tackle these interconnected challenges to people and planet.