When Skye Bortoli speaks, the world listens.  Skye, a young teenage "Eco Warrior" has a list of achievements that any diplomat would be proud to claim.  At eleven she quickly decided on her primary goal - the total protection of whales -.

Dedicated and determined, Skye is an effervescent realist and conservationist with a passionate interest in positively shaping the world around her. In her first book, Eco-Warrior, Skye tells her remarkable story so far, including family tragedy, her Aboriginal heritage and how she started the organisation Teens Against Whaling in 2006.

In May 2007, Skye headed up a delegation of three Australian schoolgirls who flew to Anchorage, Alaska, to speak at the International Whaling Commission in a concerted effort to end commercial whaling practices worldwide.

Armed with a petition of 40,000 signatures from concerned Australians, Skye and her friends not only exceeded their original goal to collect 10,000 names, they also paid their own way through fundraising initiatives and won an audience with IWC Chairman William Hogarth with the help of then environment minister, Malcolm Turnbull. 'We were told by lots of people that this wouldn't happen, that he wouldn't see us,' Skye says. 'But he did.'

In February 2008, Skye travelled to Japan to present a petition of 131,699 names to Mr Tsutsui, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, calling for a halt to scientific and commercial whaling. In June she travelled to the International Whaling Commission in Santiago, Chile, where she enjoyed another audience with William Hogarth as well as Peter Garrett, Minister for the Environment, and Jorge Palmeriem, the IWC Portuguese commissioner who invited Skye to convene her own youth forum alongside the IWC in Portugal next year.

Skye's efforts as an environmentalist have already been recognised with the national Girlfriend of the Year award 2006, the Port Stephens Young Citizen of the Year award 2006, the International Fund for Animal Welfare Junior Campaigner of the Year award 2006 and the Sea Shepherd Medal for Courage and Dedication to Marian Mammals 2007. In March 2008, Skye was the youngest ever finalist for NSW Woman of the Year.

Despite her youth, Skye is a seasoned media professional and a natural, appealing presenter and public speaker. She has been the cover subject of a Sydney Morning Herald story (May 29, 2007), has filmed a documentary with Australian production company Wide Horizons and stars in a popular You Tube film called Teens Against Whaling (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=9EdBp_O5U2E) in honour of the conservation organisation she established. Her magnetic personality and informed passion for the environment ensure a connection with her own age group and beyond.