Hellooo
My name is Hannah Bywater, and I am the human being behind this screen. Thank you for being here and for sharing these moments with me. Life is a journey, and I’m grateful to walk this part of it with you.
Travel has been woven into my story from the very beginning. I was only six months old when I travelled to Indonesia for the first time with my family. I come from a long line of adventurers, so this curiosity for the world is something I get honestly.
At six years old, I felt my first spark—a small but powerful glow of purpose— to help protect sea turtles in Northern Bali.
In 2012, my parents’ business, Vested Interest, burned down. The fire changed everything us. My family needed time to rebuild, and our travels paused. Our world flipped upside down, but my longing to experience the world didn’t fade. One year later, I convinced my parents to let me travel with a volunteer organization to Kenya at thirteen years old. That was my first trip without my family—and it certainly wasn’t the last.
Over a decade later, I’ve solo traveled and lived in many countries around the world. Everywhere I go I make an effort to leave the place better than I found it. And I’m not done yet. The best is yet to come.
History of Hannah's Planet
Since I was 6 months old I had been fortunate enough to travel to Bali, Indonesia with my parents, for their business Vested Interest Trading. Throughout my mums travels, she met a man named Chris Brown who had founded “The Turtle Project” at Reef Seen in Pemuteran, Bali. We contacted Chris wondering if we could go and see the project in action. He agreed and throughout the visit I was able to participate and learn all about their efforts. They work hard to educate the local fisherman and beach goers about turtle conservation. The awareness in the community is so helpful to the project because it provides eyes and ears along the entire coastline. It was so interesting being able to see firsthand what my donation would be supporting. I hand delivered the donation to Chris got so excited that I told him the next year I would raise double. Everyone was surprised by this reaction of mine. At that age I didn’t understand the value of money and how many friendship bracelets I would have to sell to make $610. My parents knew I would be determined to reach this goal, so they helped connect me with an artisan who was intrigued by my efforts and carved some little wooden turtles. I brought 100 of these wooden turtles back to Canada and they sold within a week; to this day, I sell the wooden turtles for a donation of $5.
When I was six years old I discovered a passion to protect the planet and species within. For Christmas 2006 my aunt and uncle gifted me a WWF (World Wildlife Foundation) stuffed sea turtle. They had “adopted” this sea turtle in my name and explained the significance of this gift. When I learned why sea turtles were endangered I knew I needed to do something to help. I took immediate action. I started raising money by making friendship bracelets to sell at lemonade stands and bake sales I would host around town and at school. For my 7th birthday I asked all of my family and friends to give me donations instead of presents. I explained that I felt I already had enough "stuff" and their support towards helping save the turtles was all I wanted. By the end of the year I had raised $305.
By the time I returned to Indonesia, one year later, I had raised over $2,000. When I presented the donation everyone was so surprised. They didn't expect that this little 7 year old girl would have exceeded her fundraising goal by three times. I sat down with Chris and with the guidance of my parents we were able to come to a sustainable conclusion for where the money would go.
There are these artificial reefs called “Biorocks”. A Biorock is a structure made of rebar that is submerged into the ocean to help rejuvenate broken and damaged coral. Attached to these structures by cables, are buoys with solar panels that float on the oceans surface and send electricity to the structure. The electric field of positive and negative charge dissolves calcium carbonate from the ocean water which condense and attach to the structure. Coral larvae settle onto the calcium carbonate which then helps skeleton growth.
In many places around the world there is an issue with dynamite fishing. Not only does this process kill hundreds of fish but it destroys coral reefs that have been growing for centuries. There are certified people called artificial reef gardeners who go and collect coral fragments that have been blasted off natural coral beds. These pieces would die on their own but can be salvaged and continue to grow if attached to a Biorock in time. When the fragments settle onto the structure, the electric current can assist the coral growth up to 5x faster than it would naturally.
So, with my donation they built a 5m x 5m Biorock. In the spirit of the cause they built it in the shape of a sea turtle! In honour of my contribution to this project they named it Hannah’s Reef.
I had about $300 left to donate and I was looking for another cause in the area. I learned about the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS). Sumatra is a neighboring island of Bali and is home to some of the most majestic apes on the planet, the Sumatran Orangutans. Unfortunately there are fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild. Their biggest threat is loss of habitat due to deforestation. The SOS is working to reclaim and restore the rainforest for the threatened and helpless wildlife on the island. My donation was able to sponsor 75 trees to be planted in the Gunung Leusur National Park. This is a protected park that is home to the orangutans and many other threatened native species.
When I returned to Canada I was so excited to share my experience with everyone that had supported me to make these efforts possible. At the age of 9 I started to dabble in public speaking. I was asked to speak in schools and community groups in North Bay and surrounding area. From then on, my goal has been to spread awareness and try and inspire others to make change in whatever way moves them. I hope to convey that age does not matter. You are never too young or too old to make a difference. No effort is too small or insignificant, every action has its echoes and repercussions. As humans we have so much power and it is up to us to initiate positive change.
In 2014 we returned to Indonesia as a family for the first time since 2007. Over the course of that time so much had changed. Hannah's Reef was no longer bare, it had been growing and restoring coral for 7 years. The trees that were planted in my name had grown to be much taller than me. I was able to go and see first hand the impacts these projects had on the environment and witness the return of life coming back into the ecosystems.
Upon my return I had raised enough money to buy just over a hectare of land in Sumatra and donated the rights to the SOS to support their efforts of expanding and restoring the rainforest in the Gunung Leisure National Park from the destructive palm oil industry.
Since then I have had many passions, raising over $65,000 for various projects. I know that I have not even scratched the surface of my potential and look forward to seeing what I can do in this lifetime.
Hannah's Reef
The original Hannah's Planet website was gifted to me in 2008. I was eager to share my experiences with everyone and my friend Scott created a platform that allowed me to expand my circle of influence. Now that I am (slightly) more capable of using technology, I have recreated this website to continue to share my journey on Hannah's Planet with the world. The process of building this website has been a huge learning experience. It continues to be a work in progress so please be patient with me as I continue to build my platform.