Wilderness International Peru

I was born in the Andes, in Urcos, near Cusco, a wonderful place full of nature at that time. As a child, I moved with my family to Madre de Dios, where I have now lived for more than 45 years. I love the trees, rivers, streams and waterfalls, the heat and the sounds of nature with its thousands of species of animals here. Although I have to admit that I don't like mosquitoes very much. I have worked for numerous entities in Puerto Maldonado, from tourist accommodations to government organizations to family businesses. But working with Wilderness International is the most fulfilling for me because I see us preserving the things I love so much. And most importantly, because I feel that in this way I can also raise awareness in others about how to care for, protect, and preserve our beautiful natural world.

My joining Wilderness International was definitely a happy coincidence - in the right place at the right time, with the right people on a mission to protect wild nature. A Peruvian friend had introduced me to Fabian Mühlberger in 2018, whereupon...

My biology studies have taught me to respect, appreciate, and above all, love nature. It has brought me here, to my beloved jungle, to accomplish a great work. It reminds me of what a great poet once said, "Turn a tree into firewood and it will burn for you, but it will not bear flowers or fruit for your children."-Rabindranath Tagore.
Meanwhile, it is not just words, it is our reality. It is inexplicable to be able to study and protect from everything that is most dear to me. To even be able to make it my profession is one of the best gifts that life could give me.
I studied biology at UNSAAC in Cusco and have since worked in various projects in the Madre de Dios region, including an environmental study for the regeneration of natural areas destroyed by gold mines and the renaturation of tree species threatened with extinction.

I come from the Manu region and was born in Palotoa. The name of the place comes from the Matsiguenga word "Paroto", which means balsa tree (Ochroma pyramidale).
Even as a child I appreciated the singing of birds at dawn, during the day I watched monkeys jumping around in the treetops, and admired the footprints of jaguars (Panthera onca) and tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) on the banks of streams, and fish such as Prochilodus magdalenae in the tributaries of the upper Madre de Dios River.
I studied forest engineering at UNSAAC with the goal of conserving forest and wildlife resources and using them sustainably.

Having grown up in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, nature has inspired me since childhood. That's why I also did my bachelor's degree in forestry in Peru and then my master's degree in forest ecology in Germany, where I...