What we do?
Our project is about sensitizing young people, adolescents, for nature and species conservation and to awaken their interest in nature. This takes place within the framework of attendance lessons at schools.
With the help of interactive presentations, we want to bring the children closer to the animals, their habitats and the question of the protection/preservation of such through information, spectacular pictures and videos. We use so-called “flagship species”, i.e. interesting and well-known animal species such as lions and elephants, as part of the presentations and case studies. Such prominent, attractive animal species provide emotional motivation for nature and species conservation and can attract attention to the issue. The best example here is the cute panda bear as the logo of the WWF.
Flagship species can also lead to an “umbrella effect”: the presence and protection of the species automatically leads to the protection of other species in the same habitat.
The primary goal of spending time with children in the field is to inspire a fascination for the environment and its creatures. This will be done through interactive sections that appeal to the different senses to make the subject matter tangible for children. It has been proven that the communication and absorption of information can be more sustainable if it is understood through several senses.
For example, it’s hard to imagine that a cougar can jump up to five meters from a standing position! Especially since a child will wonder how “big” five meters is. However, if you set up a trampoline, for example, and have a person jump as high as they can, children will quickly get a clear impression of what an extraordinary ability the cougar possesses. Such visualizations can be varied depending on the age-specific target group.
In addition to our work in schools, we often start fundraising campaigns together with our local partners in the different countries for their own conservation projects in the local communities.
This way we can be sure that the money, clothes or other donations arrive directly at the places where they are needed to support our partners and the communities in their “mission of species protection”.
What makes our project special?
We have a simple but effective concept. According to the “KISS” principle: Keep it super simple. We deliberately use only pictures or videos that we have made ourselves. The pictures and videos are not just pictures and videos for us: Behind each image or video is its own story, its own emotion that we can transport and share as an experience. In this way, we want to convey the emotions that the picture contains for us to the children and carry them away. To bring it to the point with the words of Goethe: “It must come from the heart, what should have an effect on the heart. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Our Team
Simone
Simone is a young environmental planner. She studied Landscape Planning & Landscape Architecture in Bachelor (Sc.) and Environmental Planning & Engineering Ecology in Master (Sc.) at the Technical University of Munich She currently works full-time for an engineering firm in Bavaria, pursuing environmental concerns in the context of landscape use. Her love for nature and people made her choose this career.
Even in her childhood, Simone was fascinated by the fate of nature, including animals, plants and people. Her studies focused primarily on the issues of sustainability, biodiversity, and the human-nature relationship. Her love of travel could be perfectly combined with her desire to explore nature, the landscape.
Simone has already travelled to Ecuador, Ireland, Egypt, Belarus, Romania, Thailand, Newfoundland and the USA for studies, projects and travels.
Simone is very lucky to have grown up in an environment that made her an open-minded, optimistic and nature-loving young woman. Simone wants to pass on and share her love of nature, the spiritual and cognitive enrichment that comes from this passion, to younger generations.
Simone is responsible for the communication with the schools and shares the maintenance of the Instagram presence with Flo.
Due to her experience with environmental and forest education, Simone takes care of the content form of the topics. In addition, she shares, just like Flo, her personal experiences and has the one or other exciting story from the jungle to tell.
The common idea of voluntary environmental education, based on their personal affinity for biodiversity and species conservation, connects Flo and Simone. Due to their very individual strengths, they form an ideally complementary team, consisting of two people who share the conviction of giving children an interest in the environment in the sense of sustainability.
“I am lucky enough to have a passion for something that surrounds us every day: the environment in all its facets. I want to share this happiness and thus make a small contribution: for people AND nature.”
Flo
Flo is a full-time police officer in Munich, but his passion has always been nature and its animals. Even as a child, he loved to go to the zoo and take a close look at all the animals.
For his passion and our project he has already traveled to many different places in the world to observe, photograph and film animals in their natural environment. He started doing this in 2017. He never shied away from an adventure, whether it was the remote islands of Raja Ampat or the deepest Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
With his know-how in the field of computer programs, he is the “creative” mind behind our project and the organizer. Together with Simone he designs the presentations for which he uses the pictures and videos he made himself. With exceptional negotiating skills, Flo organizes the necessary travel and establishes new contacts with partners worldwide. He also maintains existing contacts with our partners around the world.
He himself says: “For me, the project is a dream come true. The animals that I have observed and photographed all over the world have given me such given a lot. It is time to give something back and to remind our youth, the following generations how valuable, unique and fascinating every single animal is, whether very small or very large. Species and nature conservation starts with children.”
What is your goal with the project? ” My goal or dream is that we not only have success in Bavaria or Germany with our lectures and project days in schools. My dream would be to use our work to inspire and reach children all over the world again for the animal world.”