Monthly Archives: June 2011

Another little something about me

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Well, it is time for another personal ‘Notes and Scribbles’ moment from me.

Living, working and writing in Peru has been a deepening, emotional, challenging, humbling, at times draining, at times energising, growth-enhancing time.

I am full of gratitude towards Stefan, Nina, Jose (a work colleague of Stefan’s), and both Nina’s and Jose’s families. I have been shown so much generosity and friendship from them all. I have great respect for the work and lives of Stefan and Nina, and I am amazed, yet again, with the trust they have placed in me. Like Peggy, they have given me intimate access to their lives and taken the time to tell me their stories, hunt through 100′s of photographs, and edit what I have written. Their lives are full of 101 things to do, yet they have still dedicated the time and energy to embrace my writing. Nina has even given me a new nickname, Amandita, which I love.

It has been amazing for me to witness Peggy’s life and then witness Stefan and Nina’s lives. They have the same goal and yet their paths towards that goal are very different; the same ends, but via different means. These different approaches are influenced both by environmental circumstances and innate character. Peru sets different parameters to California, but likewise the character of Stefan is different to the character of Peggy. Why argue over nature or nurture; they both exist hand in hand throughout our lives. This reminds me that all paths are valid. There is never just one correct way to do something; all our tributaries flow in different channels. One day they will inevitably meet and flow to the same ocean but we do not have to force them to run in the same channel to get there.

What strikes me also, is seeing that they are united by the simple fact that they are all doing what is within their capacity to do, in the unique way that they can do it. Underlying their different approaches, and different strengths and weaknesses, they have the same passion and the same striving to live lives which will impact positively on the world. They are at one and the same time uniquely different and united in intention.

This is teaching me about choice and about judgement. What does it mean to make choices in life? Who do I choose to be, what do I choose to do with my life, are my choices aligned with my strengths, are my choices made with an intention towards growth, are my choices made with an awareness of what they will give me and what I will give out to others as a result? The last year of my life has all been about choices… Choosing to stop dancing and teaching, choosing whether to head towards conservation or psychology, choosing to write, choosing to embark on this madcap project. Choices in life are very risky, but if we don’t make them we stagnate. Being in Peru has been teaching me to affirm and challenge my own choices, to accept that I am doing what I can do in the way that I am capable of, and to find my own unique channel to flow in.

Attempting not to judge is a harder lesson. There are people I have met and experiences I have had, which I have not written about on this blog, where my initial reaction would be to judge the people or situations involved. Judge a person rude, ego-bound or ignorant maybe, or a situation ugly or beautiful…. In Peru especially, society is so divided with such stark contrasts, that judgement arises within me far too easily. But when I remind myself that we are all simply doing what we can, with whatever means we’ve got at our disposal in any given moment… then judgement becomes superfluous. We make choices based on where we are at inside ourselves and what we have learnt so far in life; how can we do anything else?

… Peggy is doing what she can, Stefan is doing what he can, I am doing what I can. I am fortunate to be in a place where I can base my choices on an underlying life-affirming world view. Some people are in a place where their choices are based on less positive undercurrents. How can I judge someone their actions when they are simply a consequence of where that person is at? In my world view we are all capable of both darkness and light, and have all at some point in our journeys committed dark-filled actions. To judge someone as wrong is as ridiculous as judging a caterpillar to be wrong just because it has not yet transformed into a butterfly… But I know it will take me the rest of this life and probably many more to practise the art of non-judgment!

Peru has certainly been transformative for me. I have a sense of ‘there’s no going back’ inside me. I know the next chapter in my life will be very different to the previous one. I am still finding out where my path will go based on what are my skills and aptitudes are, but the drive towards helping others and this planet is getting stronger. Stronger and purer I hope; there’s less need or should in the mix and more pure wanting and intuitive feeling.

Witnessing the contamination of the ocean in Peru, the corruption present in everyday life, the poverty level of factions within the population, and the huge problem of over-population, strengthens my sense that conservation is not and cannot ever be a purely environmental endeavour. Unless we solve our human problems on all levels, i.e. individuals, families, communities, corporations, countries, globally… we will never ‘save the planet’. And quite simply put, if we were all truly psychologically healthy and happy human beings we would not be making such a right muck up of this planet and there would be no need for conservation.

So for me, the way forward is no longer about choosing between writing, psychology and conservation, but rather, discerning where my strengths lie to work in any of these areas and, potentially, finding a way to blend them all. Can I use my writing to encourage people to connect with their psychological and spiritual selves, can I use my writing to encourage people to connect with the natural world? Do I have the necessary skill level to write and, if not, how else can I apply myself? If I could ask an angel what my greatest strengths are and how I can best use them in this world what would the angel say…?

… Lots of questions, not all the answers yet but I have faith that I will find answers as I go. It is clear to me that although this phase of my life may have begun about a year ago, it is still very much in its early stages…

So endeth Amandita’s personal reflection moment! Right now I am in chilled out Boston which is relaxing even in rush hour. I’ve had a great few days staying with some lovely Couchsurfers, one of which, Lesli, is about to be pastry chef in a new veggie cafe in Boston called Veggie Galaxy. I’ve had a wonderful day off visiting Boston Harbor Islands and later today I head up the coast towards Grand Manan Island to work for and write about Laurie Murison at Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station. En route, I hope to write the next part of the Feral Girl story and then we shall see what further whale stories I can bring you from Canada on the last leg of this venture…

And after that, well that’s anyone’s guess!

Stefan, Nina and Mundo Azul – today and tomorrow

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You may remember mention of Stefan’s work on the Ancon Port campaign from my ‘Mundo Azul – from then till now’ post. At the point of writing that post the outcome of the situation remained uncertain. However, a few days ago Stefan learned that the battle had been won. Nine months work on this landmark project has paid off and the bay has been declared untouchable by law. The Ancon campaign has set a precedent here in Peru; this is the first time ever that a successful campaign has been mounted against one of Peru’s wealthiest family owned business groups. Also for the first time, all stakeholders were united together. Peru society is generally extremely divided with a huge gap between upper, middle and lower classes. In the fight to protect Ancon, the wealthiest and poorest levels of the community sat in meetings together and acted as one.

“This project marks a difference. It represents a change in Peru that really matters. If the biggest family corporation can be stopped then so can anyone. This case shows that the old measures taken by these powerful organisations will not be accepted anymore. Bribery, buying people’s allegiance, threats, physical attacks, acting with no scruples… all these tactics no longer work. The country and its people cannot be bought with money. Democracy and people’s rights have to be respected.”

Stefan himself knows firsthand the unscrupulous tactics employed by these large organisations. His own life was threatened while carrying out the Ancon project, with additional veiled threats made towards his family.

Ancon represents a huge shift in focus for Mundo Azul. In the last two years Stefan has been asked three times to become involved in social conflict cases and it is likely that this aspect of the organisation’s work will continue to grow. There are currently 233 registered social conflicts ongoing in Peru, with 50% of these involving an environmental element. Communities are standing up and fighting large companies, wealthy family groups and governmental factions who attempt to take away the rights of the local people. Many of these disputes are occurring along the coast, with local communities being displaced for ports, industry and agricultural projects which are also impacting heavily on the natural environment. Stefan says, “You have to know which fights to pick. Sometimes it is the other way round. Sometimes there is an ethically good company wanting to work in harmony for the good of a local community, but factions within the community want to twist things for their own agenda. So you have to be able to discern.”

Social conflict work can be carried out with relatively small amounts of funding, but even these modest funds still have to come from somewhere. Stefan knows that this money will not come from the government, indeed the government is more likely to go against such politically uncomfortable work, and even cut off permits and sources of funding. Certainly the foreign NGO’s will not become involved. “American and European NGO’s will not get involved in anything political as this may disrupt their inflow of money from donors. They do not want to touch anything that involves government, uncovering uncomfortable truths or illegal trading. They operate with a non-conflict policy.” As far as Stefan is concerned, these policies are damaging to conservation, “They are not taking a stand for conservation, they shy away from what really needs to be done. They are not doing what we need to do to save the world. We have to come back to the 80′s when people were passionate and took a stand. We need that, especially in countries like Peru.”

For Stefan, the lack of funding from external sources to finance social conflict cases, heightens his drive to secure his own financial resources. His commercial venture with Nature Expeditions is “The way forward”.

Stefan’s hope for the future is that Nature Expeditions will run successfully and secure a good income that will support both his family and the work of Mundo Azul. With that financial security in place, he will be free to decide Mundo Azul’s agenda. His guess is that socially and politically oriented projects will eventually overtake the purely conservation oriented ones.

Stefan is proud of his achievements in the Ancon project. He senses a growing confidence in himself as a leader. “Ancon shows the power that one person can have. For a community to be united, there must be a leader to bind them together.” Stefan is starting to be looked on as a leader within the community, and this is something he wants to build on in the future. Ancon has given him a renewed determination to do what needs to be done. “Ancon is one of the greatest achievements of my life in conservation. David can take on Goliath and win!”

A part of Stefan would like a gentler life; to run Nature Expeditions and not be involved in any more struggle… But somehow, considering his makeup as a person, I do not believe, and neither does he, that this will happen. He does however certainly hope to have the option of deciding which fights to accept and which to decline.

And what of Nina? You may have noticed that she has not been very present in the last couple of posts… She has been extremely busy on a work project of her own in the last few weeks, securing an income for the family. But her hopes for the future are to be an equal partner within Mundo Azul, doing the work which she loves most, and for her family to have the freedom to spend more time together enjoying the happy and carefree moments in life.

And that is where I have to leave Nina, Stefan and Mundo Azul… At a point where they are celebrating one victory… While still facing the many challenges of everyday life as conservationists in Peru… With an uncertain and constantly changing future ahead of them…

I will leave you with Stefan’s words, “I will always be a conservationist, conservation has become me. I can never go back. I hope to get the needs of my family met, but beyond that I will continue to do what needs to be done. With passion, one person can change the world…”

Stefan Austermühle – the problem with conservation today…

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Stefan has worked within the arena of animal rights and conservation for over 25 years. During this time he has been involved in projects which have produced wonderful outcomes for conservation. However, throughout the years Stefan has also become aware of particular issues which leave him critical of some aspects of the conservation world. I asked him to tell me more about these issues and he recounted two which he feels are especially damaging.

The first concerns the attitude of conservationists and conservation organisations. Twenty five years ago, when Stefan was just starting out as a volunteer with Greenpeace, the conservation world was full of highly dedicated people. They had not necessarily studied biology at college, but had taught themselves as a result of their passion for the cause. They were “Special people, with an honest drive to save the world. They trained themselves to a specialist level and they would do whatever was necessary to achieve this because they believed in what they were doing.”

Stefan believes that this drive has been, to a large extent, lost. In today’s conservation arena, jobs are only open to people with university degrees and PhD’s. Being a conservationist is now seen as a career, rather than a passion. People enter conservation from the world of business and may then switch back again at any time, as part of their climb up the career ladder. Their primary concern is with “Climbing the ladder rather than with conservation. NGO’s are managed by lawyers not conservationists. Conservation has become business”.

With this change in the make up of personnel, comes a change of expectation and organisational structuring. When an employee of a large NGO oversees a project in a country such as Peru, he is housed in a five star hotel. The entire monthly salary of a local grass roots conservationist may be spent purely on his hotel bill. Stefan wonders, “If that is the kind of luxury and lifestyle they are used to when they travel, what on earth is their salary?”

The business world has merged with the conservation world to such an extent that it has “Perverted conservation completely”. Money is wasted on unnecessary luxuries, and the university graduates and ex-business career movers employed within large NGO’s do not have the necessary skills to implement conservation initiatives in the real world. “They do not have a clue how to work with local communities and deal with real issues such as poverty.”

This feeds into the second big problem which Stefan perceives. When conservation organisations are run as businesses with an inherent need to attract huge amounts of money to pay for their continuing expenses, the drive to make money overtakes the drive to conserve. This in turn impacts on how these large scale NGO’s interact with small grass roots organisations such as Mundo Azul.

In countries like Peru there is no state funding or grant system for conservation organisations. Additionally, there is very little money available within the country itself from other sources, such as the corporate sector or private donors. Small grass roots conservation groups often rely on funds from the large scale foreign organisations in America and Europe with a remit to fund projects in less wealthy countries.

Stefan described the process of collaborating with these large American and European NGO’s.

American organisations rely on attracting major donations from individual sources to support their work. They may pull in a huge sum from one donor which will be used to finance a project in, for example, Peru. From the total amount of money which a donor gives for a specific project in a specific country, 40-60% stays with the American organisation. This money may be spent on their overheads, salaries, hotel bills etc. The small amount of remaining money goes to the actual project and the grass roots organisations implementing the work within that country. These groups receive very little money to pay for the project, their administration costs and their wages. “We are expected to survive on air and passion, rather then receiving salaries that would provide even minimum living standards for our families.”

The huge demand placed on an American organisation to maintain its infrastructure, coupled with hefty competition from other organisations all competing for the same pockets of money, requires the NGO to “Sell sexy projects to their donors”. When the NGO wants to create a sexy project, they hold a workshop within the country where the project will take place. Local grass roots organisations with their specialist knowledge of the area’s problems and needs are invited to attend the workshop. During the two to three day workshop, the American NGO gains all of the local organisations’ knowledge. Participants of this consultation process are invited to take part with no fee offered, only “Cookies and Coca Cola”. The American NGO cherry picks which aspects of an issue are sellable to a donor and “Invents a project”. The decision making process is carried out “Without consulting the partner grass roots organisations and the final project may even go against their recommendations”. The so called partner organisations are offered the opportunity to carry out the project as hired hands, not as equal partners, on the terms set by the American NGO. The process is a “Top down, decision making process with no actual democratic partnership taking place”.

European organisations operate quite differently. They rely on much smaller donations from many members. Their strategy is to “Demonstrate to donors in regular newsletters, media and other communications that they do a lot, so that people keep giving them $50 a month”. The NGO will fund many projects around the world with very small amounts, maybe $500-2,000. A stipulation of their funding is that none of it can be used on wages or administration. A local grass roots conservationist offered the opportunity to carry out the project is then faced with the dilemma of “How do I live while I carry out this work?” In the meantime, “The European NGO can tell its donors, we are supporting 20 projects around the world! After all, 20 projects looks better on paper than one.”

In Stefan’s opinion, whether receiving funds from an American or a European NGO, a small grass roots conservation organisation is “******”. Well, I am afraid I cannot repeat his exact wording for the sake of decency. I asked Stefan what he believes to be the solution to this problem. He gave me two answers. His first was,“The only solution for us is to be self-sustainable. We have to earn our money by creating a business, such as Nature Expeditions, and in our free time pursue our conservation objectives.”

His second answer was, “The global solution would be for large scale European and American organisations to fund work in less well off countries, with a bottom up / equal decision making process, while restricting what proportion of the funds they keep for themselves. In reality, rather than them supervising us and the work which we carry out on the ground, we should have the right to supervise them and the work which they carry out as fundraisers.”

Stefan has chosen to no longer approach foreign NGO’s for funding, which is why he is happy to publicly communicate his criticisms of the conservation world. His choice is to find methods to fund Mundo Azul which allow him autonomy over his work, pay and conditions. And this strategy introduces us to what will be the final post on Mundo Azul; the organisation’s current projects and Stefan’s hopes for the future.

Mundo Azul has recently achieved a landmark victory working on a social project in Peru, campaigning against the development of Ancon Port. And it is social conflict projects such as Ancon, plus the operations of Nature Expeditions, which Stefan hopes will create a good future for himself, Nina, their family and Mundo Azul. So do not miss my final post on Mundo Azul which will document this modern day tale of David against Goliath.

Mundo Azul – eradicating dolphin killing in Peru

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The illegal trade in dolphin meat in Peru is, in Stefan’s opinion, a huge problem but one which could be overcome quickly and successfully with the appropriate resources.

Before 1996 it was relatively common to find dolphin meat on the menu throughout Peru. Nina and Olga’s successful campaign which led to the new law being introduced was a milestone in conservation. Seven dolphin species became the only animals in Peru to have a law dedicated purely to them. Once the law took effect, the legal trade in dolphin meat ended, but an illegal one sprang up in its place. This trade continues predominantly within less well off communities; dolphin meat is not a luxury commodity for the elite but a simple food source sold at local fish markets.

When Stefan and Nina first realised illegal dolphin killing was taking place, they decided that information gathering had to be the immediate course of action. They had no idea of the scope of the problem or whether it was a small or large scale operation. Stefan’s experience and skills in undercover investigation would now prove to be vital in their research process.

Nina and Stefan realised it would be impossible to document dolphin killing at sea. The marine coastguard knew the law and would be patrolling the coast. Therefore any fishermen hunting dolphins would be doing so covertly, probably under cover of darkness, and bringing their catch ashore hidden under tons of fish.

Once on land however, it was a different story. Although a law existed, the land police did not know about it. And even if they had known, they probably would not know how to recognise dolphin meat. So, at local markets the meat could be displayed and sold easily without any fear of arrest.

The ideal place to carry out research was at the point of sale; the fish markets themselves. However, fish markets exist in some of the poorer, more dangerous parts of coastal towns and, as a white person, Stefan could not go there. Instead, local Peruvians were trained and hired to undertake the work.

Mundo Azul carried out undercover investigative research in Lima and other towns up and down the coast, generally spending two weeks at each market. It was relatively easy to build up a picture of the frequency and scale of the problem because of the decay rate of dolphin meat. Dolphin meat only stays red for 24 hours, after this time it turns black. Stefan knew that if red meat was on sale every day at the fish market, then dolphins were being killed every day to provide it. Additionally they could estimate the number of dolphins from the amount of meat on display; for example at one port, they were able to estimate a catch of two dolphins per day.

One informant, who proved his reliability by notifying the marine coastguard of a catch of dolphins due to arrive in port, told Stefan, “every day, about three dolphins are caught“. Based on the informant’s information, an estimated 1,000 dolphins were being brought ashore in one port alone over the course of a year. The formal estimate which Mundo Azul placed on dolphin killing was 3,000 per year. However, this was, “A very conservative estimate”.  Stefan believes the actual figure to be much higher when the 50+ places to land catches up and down the coast are accounted for.

With the research complete and enough data collected to take action, their next step was to work with law officials. In collaboration with the Ecological Police based in Lima, they travelled with one policeman to fish markets in towns along the coast. Stefan then accompanied the officer and local police on an armed raid of the market. Mundo Azul, not the police, financed these operations. They paid travel, accommodation, petrol and food for both themselves and the policeman. In addition they paid a ‘wage’ for the officer. In Peru policemen have two or three jobs as their police pay is not sufficient. It was impossible to ask an officer to travel to another town for a few days without paying him as this would leave him with a loss of earnings. Mundo Azul therefore supplemented his income. The operations cost the organisation approximately US$500 per raid.

The raids were successful and provided the evidence required to enable local law enforcement to act. Additionally, film and photographic coverage from the raids and undercover work were used to highlight the issue in the media. During this time, Mundo Azul also carried out educational work with local police, prosecutors and other law officials to teach them about the dolphin law and its enforcement.

With a law to protect dolphins in place, successful prosecutions occurring and the gradual education of police, it would be understandable to assume that the illegal trade in dolphin meat would be quickly eradicated. However, it continues to this day. Why? Mundo Azul took the first important steps, but continuity was needed to see the process through to completion. The work of publicising the issue and dealing effectively with it along the entire Peruvian coast needed time. That continuity over an expanded timescale required finances, and adequate finances were something that Mundo Azul did not have.

Throughout the dolphin campaign in 2003-05, Stefan appealed to the international conservation world for support. But this appeal fell mainly on deaf ears. In addition, the other two marine conservation groups in Peru spoke out against Mundo Azul, claiming that the estimated number of dolphins being killed was exaggerated. These organisations’ claims were not substantiated by any data of their own, but they were none the less listened to by the world at large.

Small amounts of money were occasionally donated, but nothing on the scale required. Stefan became increasingly frustrated during this period and his frustration turned to anger. He was tired of feeling so powerless. He lost patience with the larger international NGO’s whom he had been appealing to for money.

“In Peru we have a law prohibiting dolphin killing and we have police and lawyers wanting to carry out the work of eradicating it. This is a battle which could be won. With a campaign here in Peru, international conservation organisations could have an amazing success story to tell their donors. If just one tenth of the money that is being spent on the continual campaign against Japan’s whaling was spent here, we would see the end of dolphin killing, completely. 25 years after starting to campaign against Japan, that battle is still going on, here it could be won in a year. But Peru is not ‘sexy’ enough, it is not a marketable campaign. Why fight a battle in Peru when you can fight Japan?”

Mundo Azul had no further funds to finance the work themselves and the campaign’s momentum dissipated. However, their work continues in other ways. In 2006 they initiated a first ever photo identification research project on dolphins. They are able to finance this project through the international volunteers who travel here to work with them. The research is showing that there are still huge numbers of dolphins in the waters around Peru which gives hope for the future. Furthermore, Stefan hopes that this research combined with their data from the undercover operations will one day gain the financial support needed to complete the eradication of illegal dolphin killing in Peru. And maybe if Nature Expeditions helps Peru gain a place on the world map of marine ecotourism, sending tourists home with tales of their wonderful dolphin experiences plus tales of the animals’ continued slaughter, Peru will become ‘sexy’ enough to be given that support by the world at large.

In Stefan’s own words he is a “Very opinionated person”. He has strong views on the conservation world in general, with a mixture of negative and positive experiences to draw on, including those described above. His views, both in relation to the issue of why conservation groups ignore the plight of Peru’s dolphins and in relation to other issues, will be the subject of my next, and penultimate, post on Stefan, Nina and Mundo Azul.

Nature Expeditions – opening Peru’s secret treasure chest

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Peru is known for its inland treasures, for its mountains and rainforests, ancient ruins and rich culture. Tourists flock here to visit the Inca city of Machu Pichu high up in the mountains and conservationists tell the world to protect Peru’s diverse rainforest. But there is an undiscovered treasure in Peru, or more accurately, in its oceans.

Stefan lives every day in amazement at the bounteous nature of the ocean and in disbelief at how invisible it is to the rest of the world. Peruvians, conservationists, tourists, international organisations… anyone and everyone has the general perception of the waters here as being, “Cold, green, with no visibility and just a load of anchovies!” This part of the Pacific is vaguely known to have a high biomass (meaning biological mass, i.e. a lot of anchovies), with 10% of the world’s fish catch coming from here. But what remains totally unrecognised is its astonishing biodiversity (meaning many different animals, i.e. not just anchovies!)

The richness of the Peruvian coastal waters is the result of two ocean currents. One is the Humboldt Current, which flows northwards along the Peruvian coast, bringing with it cool oxygen rich waters from Antarctica. The other is a strong upwelling close to the Peruvian coast which draws up nutrient rich water. These two currents combined cause a very high production of algae, creating the primary level in the food chain, and consequently forming the basis for an extraordinarily rich diversity of marine life. There is one big party going on here, and everyone is invited, be they a charismatic whale or a humble mollusc.

The figures which Stefan gives are, quite simply, staggering. Over 30 species of cetaceans either reside or migrate here to feed. That’s 37% of the total number of cetacean species in the world, and they hang out right in front of Peru’s coastline. There are 1,000 species of fish, 600 crustaceans and 1,400 molluscs. There are sea lions, fur seals and sea otters. There are 87 species of marine birds, 27 of which are albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels, and seven are gulls. These numbers can literally fly overhead without really sinking in, but Stefan painted a very clear picture when he described the Galapagos albatross.

“People travel from all round the world to see a Galapagos albatross on the Galapagos islands. But how much time does this bird spend there? It hatches… then it disappears… it comes back as an adult to breed for a few months… then it disappears. Where does it go? It goes to a place where it can find food and that place is here in the waters off Peru where it lives for 80-90% of its life!”

Bird lovers, divers and whale watchers flock to other well-known destinations to see cetaceans and birds, or go diving and kayaking. But Peru remains an unknown hotspot. The water here is dense, it is a “Floating soup of food”, but with no existing culture of marine tourism to promote it, no one knows of its rich beauty. Stefan’s pioneering marine ecotourism company Nature Expeditions is attempting to change this status quo.

When Stefan takes tourists out on trips with Nature Expeditions, they are at a loss for words. He has guided dolphin researchers from Europe, who often spend a whole week searching the Mediterranean to find just one pod of dolphins. In Peru they see three or four pods of dolphins on just one trip and their mouths hang open when Stefan tells them this is an everyday occurrence. More than 1,500 individual bottlenose dolphins reside along one short stretch of coastline south of Lima, which means there are a staggering six dolphins per kilometre.

He has guided kayak tour operators who have never in their life seen as many species of marine birds and animals as they see here on a two hour kayak trip. And he has watched tourists become emotional, even hysterical, at the experience of seeing dolphins swim up to the boat and look them in the eye.

On diving trips, Stefan smiles at divers who are amazed to see rocks covered in a carpet of life not just one animal deep, but two or three animals all sitting on top of each other! Stefan told me that he knows of one kelp forest diving spot in America where there are 40 dive operators all diving in the same area. In the kelp forests off Peru Nature Expeditions is the only operator in existence.

When Stefan takes tourists on trips to Parakas, to the south of Lima, they are blown away by the contrast there. To view the dead nothingness of desert meeting the alive richness of the ocean, and to watch dolphins leaping out of the water against a background of dramatic sand dunes, takes their breath away.

One of Stefan’s personal favourite nature experiences, which can be had a short boat ride from Lima, is swimming with sea lions. There are only five places in the world where you can swim with sea lions, and generally they have the added excitement of a potential shark attack thrown in. In Peru the sharks do not come close to sea lion colonies; there is just too much food for them elsewhere. As Stefan says, “Swimming with dolphins is not half as great as swimming with sea lions. Sea lions make contact with you, they come and very gently nibble at you to see what strange creature you are. They are funny, they play, they sneak up on you from behind and shoot away when you turn and look at them!”

In could be assumed that it is a blessing for Peru’s ocean to remain unknown to the world at large. After all, surely this means that it will not become spoilt. However, in Stefan’s words,

“That’s bull****! The ocean here is being overfished, contaminated and destroyed, and no one knows about it. Nobody sees the plastic bags and other waste floating in the waves. Because no one sees it, there is no one to shout out ‘Wait! What are you doing to this beautiful, ocean!’ Conservation only works when people are aware of the fact that beauty can disappear. When no one is aware, no one cares, and when no one cares, unscrupulous people are free to continue destroying.”

I asked Stefan what he hopes Mundo Azul and Nature Expeditions can achieve in the future. He replied, “Helping people to discover the beauty, so that they can care and take action to protect it.”

There is a huge potential in Peru for marine eco-tourism. At present Nature Expeditions is leading the way. Stefan is not worried about competitive companies being established because he knows there is room for them all. Indeed, the more successful Nature Expeditions and other companies become, the more known Peru’s ocean treasures become. Stefan hopes this would start the metaphorical snow ball rolling on its way to bringing him a much deserved income, providing incomes for other local people and, most importantly, gaining the worldwide recognition which the area needs to ensure its protection for the future.

But before we can carry on exploring Stefan’s hopes for the future, there are current issues still to address. Illegal dolphin killing is one example of how the oceans around Peru are not being looked after or noticed by the world at large. In my next post I will be writing about the work which Stefan, Nina and Mundo Azul have undertaken to end the trade, and what further measures are still needed to successfully bring it to a stop.

Mundo Azul – the wonder years

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I asked Stefan what the most memorable highlights were from his and Nina’s time with Mundo Azul, and his answer was immediate and definitive, “Our early years when we organised and took part in diving expeditions.” He went on to recount three such adventures.

When Nina and Stefan decided to dive in Lake Titicaca they did so for two reasons. The first was for the pure thrill of the dive itself. Lake Titicaca is huge, it can even be seen from space, but, more importantly, it is situated at an altitude of 3,800 metres and as such is one of the highest diving destinations on the planet. Stefan and Nina were young and they were excited by the thought of breaking records; Nina would be the first woman ever to dive here, and only a handful of men had done so before them. Their second reason was to conduct a pilot study of the Kaira frog. This frog is endemic to the lake, considered holy by local people, and is also an endangered species.

At the small town of Llachon, they met the community leader who was afraid that their presence would upset Mamacocha, the spirit of the lake. So before diving, they appeased her by making offerings. They also had to prepare their equipment. This may be a relatively easy thing to do at low altitude, but at high altitudes everything becomes a hundred times harder. Stefan remembers how carrying the dive tank a short distance would cause him to “Lie on my back on the ground, looking like a beetle, gasping for air!” Just putting on a dive suit was a struggle, let alone charging a dive tank which at normal altitude may take 20 minutes, but at this altitude took one and a half hours.

Stefan and Nina had a successful dive in Lake Titicaca, thankfully with no misadventures. As Stefan says, “At this altitude you do not want to have an accident. If you do it will probably be the last one you ever have!” They were able to gather data and photographs of the rather strange looking Kaira frog, and pave the way for a future return to the lake with a film crew in tow.

Stefan and Nina were also the first people ever to dive in the Peruvian rainforest. For two years they had wanted to carry out preliminary research in a rainforest area, but had not located a river with good enough visibility. Rivers in rain forests are generally brown and if you stick your head in one you are likely to only see about 1cm in front of you. Then they made contact with another NGO working in Yanacharga Chemillen National Park who told them that in the dry season, provided it did not rain at all, the rivers were clear.

The opportunity to dive there came in collaboration with a Belgian film crew. The area they headed to was a beautiful wilderness of hills, canyons and forest, and at a high enough altitude not to have to worry about the presence of piranhas or crocodiles. The journey there was adventure enough, with 24 people and all their equipment travelling up the Iscozasin river. It took a whole day to navigate upstream. This was in part due to the dry season which meant water levels were low, which in turn meant rapids. Whenever they reached a rapid, the people had to carry the equipment on foot to meet the boat further up the river; a process that was repeated many times over. The following day saw them walking all day long through the forest to reach their destination. Stefan remembers how surreal it looked to see people walking through a rainforest with dive tanks on their backs!

After additionally surviving three potentially deadly attacks by the shushupe snake, their efforts paid off. When they arrived at the river they found it to be crystal clear and wonderfully warm. It was “Like diving in an aquarium. The low water level meant that fish of all sizes were trapped in these small lakes by rapids on either side. They would just swim round and round us as we watched. It was a stunning sight!”

The film crew were able to document the area’s treasures to their heart’s content, and Stefan and Nina had the satisfaction of knowing they had seen a huge logistical operation through from the initial idea to a successful end result.

Stefan and Nina’s expedition to the Lake of the Condors has to be the most fantastical story of the three. The lake is situated at an altitude of 2,700 metres, in a cloud forest amidst steep mountains. The area is of archaeological interest with its unexcavated remains of the Chachapoya people, a culture which pre-dates the Incas. Indeed when the Incas first arrived here, the Chachaboyas rebelled against the fearsome warriors, bringing severe punishment upon themselves as a consequence.

Chachapoya way of life, and death, included mummifying the dead. The people constructed small buildings in which to place the mummies and, somehow, positioned them high up the vertical cliffs of surrounding mountains. Today, the area around the lake contains the mostly undiscovered remains of these people. It was also thought the lake itself contained hidden archaeological treasures and this was the reason for Stefan and Nina’s expedition. They were leading a team of German archaeologists intent on mapping Chachaboya remains within the lake. In addition, it gave Stefan and Nina a wonderful opportunity to conduct a first ever biological survey.

Stefan described the challenges which this expedition entailed. On leaving Leymebamba, the last village en route, the team of four divers plus film crew travelled by horse onwards into the forested mountains. It took 28 human carriers, 47 mules, plus the team on horseback to transport everything necessary for the dive. As Stefan said, “It was like an eighteenth century expedition, with a caravan of people and animals a kilometre long!” Food, tents, equipment, fuel… everything that they might possibly need had to be carried by human, horse or mule through the forest to their destination.

They arranged the expedition for the dry season, as navigating steep mountains on horseback in the rainy season would be asking for disaster! However, the weather, or the spirit of the lake, had its own intentions. It is believed by the local people that all the lagoons have spirits, and these spirits will act to defend themselves from intruders. The team had a 12 hour journey over a mountain of 3,600 metres and down into the valley beyond. This would be a difficult enough journey in good conditions, but on the morning of their departure the dry season gave way to heavy rains. It rained for the whole 12 hour journey, forcing the horses to cross mud which at times came up their stomachs, and it continued raining that night as they arrived and made camp. It proceeded to continue raining for the whole of the next day and night, while the team struggled to make trails from their camp to the lake and build a platform on the lake in preparation for their dive. That night, all was completed and they were due to dive the following day. But then the leader of their group of carriers and support personnel, announced, “The lake does not want us here. Tomorrow morning we will have to leave you!”

The team attempted to convince him otherwise. With his shaman’s knowledge he advised them that their only chance was to make an offering to the lake and calm her spirit. There was some secret laughter from the team of archaeologists, but the following morning they duly trudged an hour through thick mud under the worst rains yet to reach the edge of the lake. Each person carried a personal object to offer the spirit and, amidst much ritual and chewing of Coca leaves, the offerings were made.

The very moment that their offerings touched the surface of the lake, a ray of sun shone on the exact spot where the group stood. Within an hour the clouds lifted from the surface of the lake and disappeared. After two days and nights of torrential rain, the sun came out. There was no more quiet laughing from the team of archaeologists!

With the spirit of the lake appeased, the team were able to conduct their surveys. However, there was one last twist; after three days of diving, not a single sign of archaeological remains were found and neither was a single fish or other aquatic life. The Lake of the Condors was either very much dead or its spirit was keeping its treasures for itself!

Nina and Stefan consider themselves to be immensely fortunate to have experienced the wonders of diving in such extreme, untouched and beautiful places. Diving by its very nature offers a window into another world. Diving in these locations must have been like visiting another galaxy; what a remarkable thing to experience! The memories which they carry from those early years of Mundo Azul remain in their hearts to this very day.

They have of course experienced many other wonders of Peru… in particular the amazing diversity of life existing along the coast, which Mundo Azul works to protect and Nature Expeditions hopes to share with others. This bounteous marine environment will be the celebratory subject of my next post before moving on to the less joyous topic of illegal dolphin killing.

For a fuller flavour of Nina and Stefan’s expeditions  why not watch a short film about diving in Lake Titicaca and two films, part 1 and part 2, about diving in the Peruvian rainforest!

Mundo Azul – from then till now

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When Stefan and Nina moved to Peru together, the first obstacle to overcome was language. For the first year, while Stefan was learning Spanish, he worked as a travel guide for German tourists. After this time he and Nina approached different conservation groups in Peru to enquire about working with them on marine issues. They were surprised to learn that most of the organisations only focused on rainforest habitats. From the two small grass root NGO’s working on marine issues, they received a negative response and a feeling of competition.

“Well, we’ll have to start our own organisation then!” Stefan and Nina concluded one day. Being conservationists who are motivated by the problems facing all life in the oceans, they decided to  focus on general marine issues as opposed to purely dolphin related ones.

In 1999 Nina and Stefan formed Mundo Azul. The early years of the organisation were a wonderful adventure with incredible opportunities and expeditions. Because of their broad focus, and Stefan’s diving skills which very few people possess in Peru, they were able to attract funds from larger organisations to carry out underwater biodiversity research. The Nature Conservancy, for example, needed to acquire baseline information for marine protected areas. Stefan dived up and down the coastline carrying out research that was essential to proposing conservation measures for the area.

For about three years Mundo Azul was involved in setting up and taking part in the most amazing expeditions funded by larger NGO’s, photographers and film crews. Stefan and Nina were fortunate enough to explore some of the most beautiful and untouched parts of Peru. They were the first people to dive in the Lake of the Condors and the Peruvian rainforest, and Nina became the first woman to dive at high altitude in Lake Titicaca. This period provided some of the highlights of their time working together.

Stefan also continued to dive frequently along the coast of Peru. He was alarmed to come across many dead dolphins on these trips. He would find their bodies washed ashore on beaches, obviously slaughtered with their muscle meat taken. In 2002 the family went to the beach for Christmas. On their first day they marveled at two dolphins swimming gracefully in the surf close to shore. The following day they found two dead dolphins on the beach.

Dolphin killing had been illegal in Peru since Nina and Olga’s victory in 1996 so what was happening here? Stefan came to a decision, “Something has to be done about this.” There followed a huge undertaking by Mundo Azul to investigate and eliminate the illegal killing of dolphins taking place in Peru. I will detail this further in a future post, but to give an overview, the work included information gathering and undercover investigations, police raids, training of police and prosecutors, and appealing to the world at large to help end the illegal trade in dolphin meat.

However, despite all their efforts, they lacked the funds and resources to complete the task of eradicating dolphin killing. It continues to this day. By 2005, their funds had dried up. In Peru there is no state funding for conservation work and a severe lack of money from any source. NGO’s rely on funds coming from larger organisations based in foreign countries, from foreign volunteers and investors, and from their own ingenuity to find other ways of financing themselves.

In 2005, Stefan and Nina’s first child Aysha was born. Nina was working for Conservation International, one of the biggest conservation organisations in the world, but still her income was not enough to sustain the family in Peru, and the pressure was on Stefan to bring in enough money to support the family.

In what appeared to be a moment of good fortune, one of the biggest national NGO’s offered Stefan the role of Executive Director. Against Nina’s intuition and better judgement, Stefan accepted. His role was to re-float the NGO which had run into financial difficulties. He was responsible for making the difficult decisions which would enable it to survive. He cut their workforce by 50%, identified and eliminated corruption, and began to pay off their labour debts. He succeeded in turning the tide and was doing so well that his board of directors gave him a salary increase as an official well done. However, while investigating the organisation’s finances he discovered there was some unusual activity taking place. Thirty accounts existed for 12 projects, with money shifting between accounts and files being erased. To this day Stefan does not know exactly what was happening or who was responsible, because three weeks after being given a pat on the back he walked into his office to be told “We want you out of here in five minutes!” Stefan was fired, with the official reason given that he was making the organisation bankrupt and had raised his own salary.

In 2006 Mundo Azul received its last grant from an external organisation, Humane Society International, to organise seminars and a conference, with the aim of promoting whale and dolphin watching in Peru. After this conference there were no more funds to continue the work.

The last five years have been a fight to survive for Stefan, Nina and their family. They would have loved the freedom to focus purely on Mundo Azul and continue the campaign against illegal dolphin killing and other marine conservation initiatives, but this was simply a luxury the family could not afford. Instead Stefan has taken on any work available, including teaching and consulting for other organisations, and creating Lima’s first ever ecotourism company Nature Expeditions. Of course, Mundo Azul was not forgotten entirely. Indeed during this time the organisation began a unique research project implementing the first ever photo identification studies on bottlenose dolphins, financed by foreign volunteers and grants from local companies.

In mid 2009, Nina ended her job at Conservation International, after having worked for more than seven years on rainforest projects and some marine initiatives in alliance with Mundo Azul. The family’s economic situation became more uncertain. However, nine months ago, Stefan was hired to help on a social project. One of Peru’s biggest economic family groups wanted to develop an industrial port in one of the very few but beautiful bays in Peru; Ancon. Ancon is a fishing port and seaside resort, its development would have resulted in the destruction of the tourist and fishing industries, plus impacting negatively on the area’s ecosystem. 300 jobs would have been created, for which 5,000 jobs would have been lost. Stefan’s role was to campaign, lobby politicians and unite local stakeholders from all social levels. The campaign is still in process, but with growing public attention, united stakeholders, and support from politicians and other wealthy families, it is looking likely that the bay will be declared untouchable by law. This is the first time that a project by this particular family group has ever been brought to a grinding halt.

And that brings us up to the current day. Mundo Azul’s roots are in marine research, species protection and environmental education; it was never intended for the organisation to have a political or social agenda. However, Mundo Azul now works at the forefront of social conflicts, defending the rights of communities against large companies. This change of profile is a consequence of current issues in Peru, with proposed industrial projects, particularly on the coast, having social, political and environmental impacts. Even before Ancon, Stefan had been involved in two other socially oriented cases, but Ancon raised Mundo Azul’s profile considerably. The organisation now receives requests from all over the country to work on social and political projects.

This post has barely scratched the surface of the many facets of Mundo Azul’s work. In forthcoming posts, I hope to bring you stories of the beautiful moments from Nina and Stefan’s work together, the toughest moments in the fight against dolphin killing, plus Stefan’s views on the weaknesses of conservation in general. I also hope to share with you his dream for the future; one in which he does not have to worry about providing for his children, can profit from more pleasurable work and choose which fights, if any, he still wants to fight.

Next time… The wonders of diving in some of the most magical and extreme places on Earth…

An unnamed story in the making – part 5

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As the feral girl walked tentatively forwards out of the surrounding safety of her forest home into the tranquil oasis of the garden, the old man turned his gaze towards her. As his eyes found hers, the girl felt as she had felt when she attempted to peek inside him and discovered him looking directly, deeply into her. In that moment, she was aware that nothing was hidden from him; her life in the forest, her studies of the villagers, her spying on him, all was revealed and laid bare. How vulnerable she felt as her feet kept walking her forwards, and how fearful of his judgement.

But in the flickers of a second that she dared meet his eyes before looking back down at her feet, she felt her body be soothed by the softness of his gaze. And a moment later, the deepest, warmest smile spread across his face and flowed out from his body to envelope her in its velvet embrace.

“Welcome Lilanthro, please, would you be kind enough to help me tend to my plants?”

The feral girl had no idea why he called her Lilanthro, but all she could manage in reply was a quietly spoken, “Yes, of course.”

So together they made their dance of the garden, with him leading the way and she shyly following. The old man stroked and smiled at the plants, all the while talking soothingly to the girl. He told her the names of each plant, their characters, the colours of their flowers and which birds favoured each one. Many of these things she already knew, but she had never given voice to them before and never put names to them. She could sense that he was aware of her connection with the plants; he was not lecturing her with his own knowledge or declaring it better than hers, just including her in his world and delicately enticing her out of her frightened bubble.

From the brightness of morning till the soft dying glow of evening the man and the girl stayed in the garden together. She followed his lead in all things. They tended the plants, they sat, they walked, they mended broken pots, they planted bulbs, they watched the birds. At times the old man would gently tell her intricately woven details about his garden. At other times they would work together in silence. Occasionally he would ask her a question or two, but only simple ones like whether she would like some food to eat, or if she could hand him a tool to work with. He created a space in which they could both exist together and placed no demands upon her.

The girl would answer when questioned, nod in agreement with his words and smile when smiled at. There were a hundred questions she wanted to ask him and a hundred things she wanted to share with him. But instead she became like a timid bird of the forest watching the friendly giant hold out food for her, darting forwards to snatch crumbs from his fingers then returning to her position of fear-filled, hope-filled stillness. She felt in awe of the old man, tiny compared to his vastness, and awkward as if any knowledge she did possess had drained out of her and she did not have the words to recall it.

She was full of a blurred array of emotions yet empty of the ability to think or to act. She was so happy to be with the old man, so happy he had accepted her and was asking nothing of her, that she wanted desperately to throw her arms around him crying “Thank you, thank you, thank you…” a thousand times over. But she dared do no more than quicken her heart beat and hold back her grateful tears.

That evening, the old man turned to the girl and said, “Lilanthro, where would you like to sleep this night? I have a hammock we can hang in the garden where the plants will take good care of you, or would you rather return to the comfort of your own bed in your forest home?”

The girl replied, “I, I will go to my own bed… But, thank you.”

“Whatever you wish is good Lilanthro. I hope you will return and help me again tomorrow. I have enjoyed your company today and I have need of a helper here, to cultivate my garden and mend some baskets… Would you do me the honour of assisting me again?”

The feral girl blushed as she responded, “Yes, yes, please, I would like that very much. Thank you.”

And so the girl slid out of his garden to the edge of the forest. She did not go far, but slept in the branches of the nearest tree overhanging the garden, close enough to feel his presence, far enough away to be wrapped in the safety of her own solitary world. That night her dreams were full of both wonder and uncertainty, and the next day she awoke in the same state of slightly displaced suspension.

For the following two weeks, the feral girl arrived in the old man’s garden each morning as he greeted the sun. Their days were spent working together and each evening the girl would return to her nest in the branches next to his home. Over those days, the old man worked his magic, patiently, artfully inviting the girl out of her cocoon of shyness.

He talked to her, taught her how to weave straw into baskets, left her by herself amongst the plants, smiled and laughed often, gave her space to grow less timid and more bold. Over the first week, the feral girl began to smile more often, to answer his questions more boldly, to start telling him of her life in the forest, to ask him about his life, even to sing softly to herself as she worked. During the second week, she would laugh as he laughed, dance the morning dance in her own way while he sat by and watched, and have moments of unselfconscious talking, exuberantly telling him stories of wolf cubs, mountains and butterflies. She lost her fear, her shyness and once again became herself, free to be in tune with the garden, the animals and the surrounding forest, feeling equal enough to be in the old man’s company and able to hold a silence with him in which they both sat with calmness and lightness.

After two weeks of being in his company, she at last asked him, “Why is it you call me Lilanthro?”

“Ah, I’m glad you asked,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye,”The little gift which you left on the pillows of all the villagers, is the flower which we call White Star. Its secret name, which I use to call it out of its sleepiness, is Lilanthro. I thought you might like it… But you are of course free to change it and pick another name, or no name at all if you prefer…”

“I will keep it,” Lilanthro replied, “Do you have a name?”

“Ah, two wonderful questions in a row which I am happy that you’ve asked!” He said with a mischievous laugh and gentle smile, “I have a few names, and they have changed over the years, but you can call me Talas if you like.”

“Talas… You know all about me don’t you?” Lilanthro asked, with nervousness starting to creep up inside her and wrap itself around her throat.

“Lilanthro, there are a few things in this world I know, and many things I do not know, but yes, I know a little of you.”

With a sudden urge to speak what was in her heart, Lilanthro swept the nervousness to one side and said, “Will you teach me… Will you teach me to be like you?”

Talas laughed again, a rich vibrant laugh that caused the flowers to sway appreciatively and the birds to ruffle their feathers in delight, “A third wonderful question!” He declared. “However, alas, I cannot teach you to be like me. Maybe though, I can help you to be more like yourself… How about that?”

Lilanthro did not really know what he meant, but she did not want to turn down any offers of teaching from Talas so she replied, “You have given me my name, you have accepted me without rebuking me my errors, I will gladly learn whatever you are generous enough to teach me.”

At exactly the right moment, in exactly the right place, the pupil had found her teacher. How could it be any other way, does not a teacher always appear when a student is ready?

TO READ CHAPTER 6 CLICK HERE!

Stefan and Nina – the completion of a love story

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This picture shows Stefan and Nina together, after their compelling love story found its completion, after they had fallen in love, seen pictures of each other for the first time, met for the first time, married in Germany and moved to Peru… All of which happened in that order and within the space of a just a few months. Here’s how it all unfolded…

Once Nina had booked her flight to Germany, she spoke to Stefan and told him she was going to visit him. His reply was a mixture of, “You don’t have to do that… but I am happy that you are.”

During the next month and a half before they were due to meet, Nina and Stefan talked and emailed frequently. In that time, Nina realised that she had fallen in love with Stefan. She did not know quite why or how, there was no rational explanation, but her intuition guided her and, as she told her incredulous friends, “It just feels true and aligned. I simply have no doubt.”

Just before Nina was due to leave for Germany, Olga contacted her to ask that she attend an important dolphin conference in Peru. Olga’s plea was “Do it for the dolphins!” Of course, Nina could not refuse such a request so she arranged to go to Peru before heading to Germany.

Just before she left, she and Stefan spoke on the phone. It was during this phone call that Nina felt compelled to say to Stefan, “I need to tell you something before I jump on the plane…” Stefan replied, “Well go ahead, tell me.”

“I don’t know if I can, I feel too shy…” And he replied, “No, no, don’t be shy, go ahead.”

“I need to tell you I love you…” Nina said. “I love you too,” Stefan replied before he even realised what he was saying.

With that their phone call finished and Nina flew to Peru. Stefan meanwhile was left worried and stunned. “What does this mean?” were his thoughts. He had been married once and at this point had just come through a divorce. He did not know what or how he felt about Nina’s words, or indeed his own. He had to find out more…

Stefan attempted to reach Nina by phone. But he had no number for her in Peru. It took him two days of contacting all their mutual contacts in different countries before he was able to reach her. When at last they spoke, he asked her, “What did you mean by what you said. Did you mean like a sister says to a brother, or a lover says to a lover?” Nina was scared that he may not like the answer but she said, “Like a lover says to a lover…”

Stefan’s instant response was, “I’m so happy, I’ll sell everything and come and live with you wherever you are!”

Out of nowhere, having never met and never seen a photo of one another, Stefan and Nina had declared their love for each other. Furthermore, they knew that if they wanted to live together in Peru they would have to marry. They agreed a plan. They would meet at the airport in Germany, Stefan would greet Nina with a kiss, and if that one kiss felt right, they would move to Peru and get married.

And so they met for the first time at the airport… And they kissed… And three days later Stefan phoned Nina’s mother to ask for Nina’s hand in marriage.

It was not all roses. Both families were understandably uncertain of the idea. There were some tears, some looking at maps to see where in the world Peru was, some offers of plane tickets to allow them to meet and get to know each other better before taking such a big step… But this did not alter their decision. Nina returned to Washington DC, but very soon flew back to Germany to get engaged…

Shortly after that Stefan and Nina were married at Sababurg castle in Germany. This same castle had once inspired the Brothers Grimm to write Sleeping Beauty; a fairytale where the Princess lay awaiting the kiss of her perfect Prince. It was a truly beautiful day, complete with a horse and carriage secretly arranged by Stefan. Within three months Stefan and Nina had moved to Peru to start their new life together and their wonderful story continues to this day. They have now been married for 13 years, have two children and are still very much still in love.

However, this wonderful story is also most definitely real life. And just as life can bring miraculous events to us all at certain times, to remind us of the beauty of life, it also brings us the challenges, the ups and downs, the stresses, and the every-day-ness of things. Stefan and Nina are very fortunate that they found one another; two compatible souls happening to meet in this big, wide world. But after their fairytale romance and wedding they, like everyone else, also had to return to a normal life. At least, as normal as a conservationists’ life can get anyway.

Stefan and Nina were married in 1998. Since then they have lived and worked in Peru. They formed the conservation organisation Mundo Azul in 1999, have dived in some of the most beautiful places on the planet, investigated illegal dolphin killing, started an Eco-tourism company and worked on challenging community projects. On a daily basis they had to face, and still have to face, the struggles, the victories, the losses and the sacrifices of being involved in such demanding work.

But that is the start of a whole new subject. So, more on their lives and work in Peru with Mundo Azul next time…

Nina Pardo – before she met Stefan

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This picture is Nina, not just because it is an actual photograph of her, but because it captures her essence. “I dance with the ocean, I listen to music and I am free.”

Nina grew up in Peru with her mum, grandparents and three older brothers; her “warriors”. Her father died when she was just a few days old, but although he was “already gone to another dimension, he was still present in our hearts and spirits”. Nina says she learnt from an early age to value what she could not physically touch, to cherish this life and to appreciate it as part of a multidimensional spiritual world. “We have this one chance to live this life, to love, to share and to do good deeds. When we leave here, we leave everything, and we may leave with no warning. Our deeds remain to be passed on to our loved ones and to those we impacted during our lives.”

Nina had a strong sense of family and its importance as a uniting force. If ever she felt weak she would remember the strength and unifying force of love, learned from her family, that transcends all boundaries. She also had a connection with animals from a young age. The family often went to her grandparents’ farm in northern Peru where she would adopt sheep, chickens and other animals. While still a teenager she became a vegetarian as a consequence of her relationship with the animals; no one told her about vegetarianism, it was simply a natural choice she made for herself.

Nina’s strongest guiding force in life has always been her intuition. She was a good student at school and enjoyed studying new things. At university she studied business administration and began working in the private sector. But at this time she felt a pull by her intuition; it told her she needed to “change the direction of my life”. Miraculously her chance came in the form of a letter from an old friend of her father’s.

Her father had been close friends with a Japanese man called Kazuo Nagai. From the age of 17 Nina had been in touch with him, exchanging letters and photographs. Aged 22, Nina wrote to him asking how she could learn more about meditation. And now, just when her intuition was telling her to go abroad, a letter arrived from him. In the letter Kazuo invited Nina to England and Japan to experience meditation and learn about new philosophies that would aid both her personal and professional life.

Nina learnt a great deal from that trip about people and the many different ways they look for spiritual development. This aligned with her own philosophy that “love is universal and it does not matter which religion a person chooses to find it. As long as a person finds what is right for them and follows their own purpose, then that is what matters”. In Japan she also began to learn about the killing of dolphins. She had already been dreaming about dolphins, now she began to get the feeling that she would one day have to do something to help them.

Nina returned to Peru where she began researching what to do next in life. Her options appeared to be either a job in business administration or applying for further study. But then one day her friend showed her a sticker which said, “Don’t eat dolphin meat, save the dolphins!” Immediately she told her friend that she had to find out in the next hour who had made that sticker…

She tracked down a woman called Olga Rey who was running a dolphin campaign. When they met, Nina remembers telling her “I would like to give you all my energy, passion and business knowledge, and work in partnership with you”.

So in 1994 Nina and Olga worked together on the campaign. At this time in Peru it was legal to kill and eat dolphins. People across all social classes ate dolphin meat, although it was given different names for higher and lower quality cuts of meat. Many people ate it without even knowing what animal it was, knowing only that they ate chancho marino or muchame. Nina and Olga’s campaign was intense. They worked with lawyers, the media, businesses, government, everyday people… everyone. They carried out market research, ran focus groups, generated publicity in newspapers, on television, on the street and the internet. They lobbied congressmen, publicised the issue to animal campaigners across the world, who in turn sent letters to the government. At the focus groups, they asked people questions about why they ate the meat, whether the flavour was good and whether they knew what animal it was from. They educated people showing them pictures of ‘Flipper’, whom everyone loved, and explaining that this was the same animal which they were eating.

The campaign was a “crusade for the life of dolphins”. In March 1996, their intense pressure prevailed; a new law was finally decreed making dolphin killing illegal. This was a monumental achievement by Nina, Olga and the many others who took part in this campaign.

Throughout this period, Nina had been in touch with a man in Germany called Stefan. He was one of a network of people she was contacting about the dolphin issue in Peru. From his intense, serious, heavily detailed emails she assumed he was probably in his mid-fifties, maybe 30 years older than her. Over the next couple of years they were in touch as colleagues and friends but never met.

Nina travelled to the USA to study for an MBA, (while still running a dolphin project back in Peru). She remembers being in her second year at university and having an amazing time, “having fun with friends, studying, going to conferences and courses, partying… being me and having the time of my life!” One day she received an email from Stefan; he was informing all his conservation colleagues that he was leaving the conservation world. Nina emailed back telling him he should rethink,“He was a wonderful conservationist with so much to give. He could not leave because of feeling defeated and betrayed. I felt he just had to continue”.

The next evening when Nina went with a friend to the computer lab in the university, knowing that a message from Stefan was waiting for her, she felt a strong presence. Suddenly she thumped both hands on the desk and said, “Only I can give him back the belief he has lost. He is a good soul and he has helped me so much. Now I must give back to him. I have to go to Germany!”

Her friend’s reaction was “Uh oh, when you have an idea to do something you always do it!” And she did. Without even consulting Stefan, she booked a plane ticket to go to Germany and help her friend, who she had never met, to re-find his belief in life.

The spark was bright… With it, the fire had been lit… A love affair of magical proportions was about to begin…

But more about that next time…