He flies around the world for a cause

His flying skills alone could have fetched Matevz Lenarcis millions. But the 53-year-old from Slovenia always wanted to do things differently.

Two months back, he decided to tell the world that depleting water sources may fuel more tension across the globe than oil trade. With a mission to “protect earth,” he chose to fly around the world covering more than 80,000 km, with minimal use of unleaded fuel.

The trained pilot, also a biologist, environmentalist and a photographer, wanted to measure carbon emissions in the atmosphere and also get a feel of the planet. “On January 8, 2012, I took off from Slovenia in my small Pipistrel aircraft — Virus-SW914 — for a lonely flight around the world,” Lenarcic told Deccan Herald here on Sunday.

On his way to Nepal, Lenarcic stopped here for refueling. “I would have preferred to make a brief stop-over at Kolkata, but due to heavy air traffic there, I was told Patna was an equally better place.”
Even after flying for over 65,000 km in the last two months, the Slovenian remains down to earth.

“You can help the world change. There is enough space on the earth for all of us to co-exist,” he said.
“Almost a third of the human population has limited or even blocked access to safe drinking sources. I have taken images from the plane during my flight around the world which shows places with plenty of clean drinking water and places without a single drop,” he said. After his world tour finishes by mid-April, he will write a book.

“So far I have covered 40 countries, including Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia. I plan to cover 14 more before I return home.”