Paracas, Pisco December 16, 2023

On December 14, Nancy Duman and Werner Knauf visited the Colegio José de la Torre in Pisco. The elementary school teaches about 600 pupils in two shifts – in the mornings and afternoons - and is one of Acorema's oldest cooperation partners. For over 20 years the school’s teachers have been committed to environmental education.

Pisco, Landau, 26 July 2023.

For the first time, there is reliable data on the breeding success of the Humboldt penguin colony on the Ballestas Islands in southern Peru. On behalf of Sphenisco, the NGO Acorema collected data in two breeding periods. Originally, the research was to be carried out from July 2021 to June 2022. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, delays in permits, political and social protests, including road blockades and curfews, the study could not be conducted as planned and was not completed until the end of February 2023.

Pisco, Peru, Landau May 30, 2023
In September last year, Acorema began the project named "Creating and Strengthening Swareness Spaces for the Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin on the Central Coast of Peru“. The environmental education program lasts until the end of August 2024. Because of weeks of unrest with curfews, the educaional work took place under especially difficult conditions. In May 2023, Señora Milagros Ormeño Benavidess of ACOREMA (Áreas Costeras y Recursos Marinos), Pisco, Peru, wrote the following report including photos and small videos for Sphenisco.

Pisco, Peru, Landau April 20, 2022

In November 2021, Acorema started the project "Breeding success on the Ballestas?" and provided first pictures. The population of the Humboldt penguin on the central Ballestas island (one of three islands) has never been studied before. Because access is difficult and strict protection regulations have to be observed, the surveys are conducted with the help of a drone. A minimum distance of 30 meters from the animals is maintained so that their natural behaviour is not disturbed. The high-resolution images and videos obtained this way are used to document characteristics of the colony such as nesting sites, incubation period, development of the chicks, number of young respectively fledged young birds. The aim is to understand the behaviour of the penguins and the reproductive success of the colony. 

Pisco, Peru, Landau, Germany February 19, 2022

Since 2010, the NGO Acorema has been organizing and designing environmental education in the region of Ica, southern Peru, under the motto "Queremos vivir" (We want to live) on behalf of SPHENISCO. At the end of January, project manager Señora Milagros reported on measures and activities from December 2020 to December 2021.

 Landau, November 26, 2021

In July 2021, the research project "Breeding success on the Ballestas?" began, or to be more precise, should have begun. Though ACOREMA had provided all the equipment to get started, it first had to go through a bureaucratic hurdle race to obtain the necessary licences and permits. To be allowed to use a drone, it was necessary to apply for a licence. To get one, a course had to be completed first and an exam had to be taken. Usually, fifteen working days after the test, the Ministry of Transport and Communications then issues the licence. However, the Ministry needed more than 45 days. Only with this licence could a permit for research work in the "National Protected Area of Islands, Islets and Puntas Guaneras" be applied for. After the application was submitted, it was again a case of waiting, waiting, waiting.

Landau May 28, 2021.

For many years, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has classified the Humboldt Penguin as vulnerable, i.e., endangered. Nevertheless, an astonishing number of questions remain unanswered that are relevant to the survival of this penguin species (see article, Research for Survival). In 2019, the Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) of the IUCN clearly pointed out this deficiency and appealed to researchers to clarify essential questions.

Landau May 8, 2021.

COVID not only prevents, the pandemic also inspires. In 2020, Nicole Bertram (Sphenisco) initiated the "pingutastic" campaign "Encouragement Messages" https://padlet.com/nicolebertram/4jyu8qi0o5wf

In 2021, the Professional Association of Zoo Animal Keepers e.V. (BdZ) had an unusual idea concerning the World Penguin Day (April 25). The federation called on its members to send any photos and videos on the topic „penguins“ to the board on the occasion of the honor day 2021. Many zoo keepers participated.

- ACOREMA breaks new ground -

Landau January 4, 2021.

Good and bad news reached SPHENISCO from Peru shortly before the end of the year. The bad first. The leader of the project "Queremos vivir - we want to live" Milagros Ormeño B. and almost her whole family was infected with Covid 19. The courses were very different. Milagros herself was severely affected for more than 2 weeks. However, she did not have to be hospitalized, but her mother-in-law did. In the meantime, she and the affected family members, including her parents, have survived the worst. Her little daughter Mikayla and her husband Helbert were not infected.