It was a meeting of a special kind when Lars Gorschlüter, managing director of the GOTEC-group, and „Matto Barfuss“, one of the most popular German photographers and conservationists, met in the artist’s gallery in Rheinau next to Baden Baden in July. Matto Barfuss has lived for 25 weeks among a completely wild cheetah family in the wilderness, he has written a great number of books and makes the wilderness available for everybody through his impressive pictures.

Lars Gorschlüter (l) and Matto Barfuss (r) at a private meeting in the art gallery in Rheinau.

The reason for the meeting was an African education project, which originated Barfuss through the distribution of illustrated books about predators of the local region. The small books do not only contain descriptions of the local predators which are appropriate for children but also great drawings from Barfuss. Barfuss himself arranges that the books are brought even in the remotest regions of the African continent to show the human beings their natural environment and the precious treasure of an intact nature. Many ideas and basic approaches of more ecological education projects in Africa came up in this conversation. The future will show which visions can be achieved through the restricted financial resources.