The time in which we live does not leave us many opportunities to experience true wilderness. When we go outside we see fields, meadows, timber plantations - in other words : cultivated landscapes. If we find some natural landscapes - apparently unspoiled on first sight, we almost always notice on closer look that they are not as untouched as we would like it in our yearning for peacefull and unspoiled places.

During our travels we became more and more aware of the fact that unharmed wilderness does not exist anymore; at best there are more or less managed protected areas. We live in times that are characterized by worldwide forest destruction, overfishing of the oceans, general loss of species and unavoidable climate change. Hence one has to pose the question if it is still legitimate to show nature as if it never had been touched.

Rather not, one would think! Time and again we have realised, however, that even dreadful conditions are perceived as intact nature. In the South Seas for example you can find whole archipelagos where not even remnants of indigenous plant life were left as the original vegetation has been eliminated relentlessly in favour of coconut plantations for copra harvest. Still, most people see in such islands the archetype of a much-praised idyll of palm-fringed South Sea beaches.

Closer to our North German home unsuspecting people go out to enjoy “nature”  like the Teufelsmoor, a long-vanished former peat bog, to admire the dandelions in flower. Of course those meadows look spectacular at that time but this does not alter the fact that dandelions are one of the few last flowers which are able to withstand the economic pressures of modern agricultural industry. But where did our peat bogs go?

Such a perception of nature – widespread and uncalled-for – often leads to a lack of understanding for urgent need of protection because superficially everything seems to be alright. A recollection of the original state of nature therefore seems to be imperative. The contributions offered here are meant to help with orientation.

This world has been a beautiful place and can be so again if we commit ourselves to it. A place that does not imply last remnants when we talk about nature. You need clear objectives to reach this aim, and to develop these you have to know where you stand and where you come from. For this reason we have started to collect the information and photographs that accumulated over the years to make up this website.