After spending more than thirty years in rapidly developing South-East Asia (calling the Philippines and later Laos my temporary "home" rather than mere work place), I have gathered considerable personal impressions, insights, and working experience with regards to the way of life particularly in these countries. I have also traveled in almost all of the surrounding countries between India and Japan (though not yet China...).

Having been trained in "Natural Sciences" at the University of Hamburg and graduated in Biology with emphasis on Entomology, the keywords

Nature Conservation Community Development (Eco-) Tourism Promotion Environmental Education

should be seen as the 'leitmotif' of my entire professional career. I have worked, directly or indirectly, with international aid agencies as well as national and local government institutions, with villagers on the so-called "grassroots level and private companies, as well in the educational sector from primary schools to university.

Principal activities...

... in Laos

I was engaged as adviser in three major fields:

• 'Public Environmental Awareness and Capacity Building' at the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the German Development Service (DED, which later merged with GIZ).
• 'Community-based Tourism Development' at the National Tourism Administration (now part of the Ministry of Information, Culture & Tourism), again in collaboration with DED).
• 'Sustainable Tourism Support' at Green Discovery Laos, a larger player of the private tourism sector.

I advised and supported the authorities of Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area in the central province of Bolikhamsay and helped to improve the park's (tourism related) infrastructure. As a personal achievement I am considering the planning and successful implementation of a community-based eco-tourism development project in the proximity of the Protected Area, namely two villages: Ban Na and Ban Hatkhai. This project addressed two major issues: wildlife conservation and community development - inseparably intertwined with each other and promoting tourism as a tool for achieving these goals.

Ban Na and the Elephant Observation Tower The work in Ban Na culminated in the construction of a widely well-received Elephant Observation Tower. Several villages in the area were increasingly attacked by elephants and the people begun to fight back. The aim to help mitigating the looming conflict and to creating an extraordinary tourist attraction in the same time sparked the idea of building this observation tower. Located at a natural saltlick on village land at the edge of the Protected Area, the spacey platform has been built entirely by hand with tireless commitment by a group of villagers, occasionally under dangerous circumstances (the elephants were always not far... Nevertheless, the tower became popular and attracted many enthusiastic visitors from all over the world. Ownership of the project has ultimately been handed over to the people of Ban Na village. Key to the success was Mr. Bounthanom, a former subsistence farmer, whose exemplary engagement in the protection of the Asian elephant drew the attention of NGOs and different provincial government institutions who hired him as resource person for sharing his experience and as trainer. His life story and love for the elephants has been well documented by 'Animal Planet' (Discovery Channel: "Mekong - Soul of a River", Episode 2, 2007). With utmost sadness and great concern I have to note that the effort has ultimately been in vein since the fate of the elephants was in the end not anymore in the hands of the villagers but of unscrupulous outsiders. End of a story that began so promising

Before embarking on eco-tourism, I worked in Laos for the Department of Forestry as consultant for public environmental awareness and capacity building. Education has always been a major concern for me. In this capacity I played a vital role in establishing a youth club (at that time a politically difficult task in Laos) called Dong Dok Nature Society (DNS), which at one time had more than 200 members from within and outside the campus and, after nearly ten years, is still going. DNS even later spawned other youth clubs and a quite active and in-demand group of consultants ('Mobile Conservation Unit') within the National University's Faculty of Forestry.

On short-term basis in between major assignments I worked as consultant for different agencies, national and foreign, and as 'Event Organizer' as well as a 'Cruise Director' on an upper class cruise ship ('Mekong Sun' for the German Operator 'LernIdee') sailing between Luang Prabang and Chiang Saen in the so-called 'Golden Triangle'.

As Senior Adviser for Sustainable Tourism to the management of Green Discovery Laos, I was involved in advising the Sales and Operations teams, revising all programs of the company and marketing its products. I also assisted the Management in reshaping the company's profile from a local tour operator to an internationally recognized player promoting sustainable and ethically sound tourism.

Green Care Fund – Lao youngsters explore the forest – A CSR project My most beloved work was the organization and co-management of the 'Green Care Fund', a nonprofit entity of Green Discovery for non-formal environmental education and team building. Goal was, sponsored by various donors, to give urban kids from local public secondary schools the opportunity to participate in weekend camps predominantly to the Phou Khao Khouay National Park. The outdoor classes gave the youngsters hands-on lectures concerning environment protection, wildlife conservation, and related topics interspersed with trekking into the wilderness and lots of meaningful games. 'Learning with fun' was the credo and more than 500 girls and boys, who came mainly from poor families, truly enjoyed the experience they usually do not have. None of them has ever been in a real forest before! Green Care Fund – Lao youngsters explore the forest – A CSR project My most beloved work was the organization and co-management of the 'Green Care Fund', a nonprofit entity of Green Discovery for non-formal environmental education and team building. Goal was, sponsored by various donors, to give urban kids from local public secondary schools the opportunity to participate in weekend camps predominantly to the Phou Khao Khouay National Park. The outdoor classes gave the youngsters hands-on lectures concerning environment protection, wildlife conservation, and related topics interspersed with trekking into the wilderness and lots of meaningful games. 'Learning with fun' was the credo and more than 500 girls and boys, who came mainly from poor families, truly enjoyed the experience they usually do not have. None of them has ever been in a real forest before!

In an additional function as Customer Relations Manager I had to deal with all sorts of customer related issues from dealing with international cooperation requests to customer complaints. As so-called 'fixer' I worked closely with the GDL operations manager in securing smooth working conditions for international TV film crews (e.g. for documentaries of all kinds by BBC, TV France, NHK, Channel News Asia, Belgian and Dutch TV and more), scientific research projects and caving expeditions.

Although the retirement age is inevitably closing in, I have no intention to settle down! Short-term assignments are still on the agenda, such as recently for the Nam Ngiep 1 Hydropower Company an appraisal of tourism potentials to support displaced communities in the catchment area of the future reservoir.