In 2007, our founder and director, Kerstin Forsberg, began her undergraduate thesis focused on sea turtle bycatch in the small northern town of Tumbes, Peru. This intensive project quickly transformed into a love for the local Tumbes community and advocacy work surrounding the critical issues facing northern Peru’s marine life.
Environmental threats to Peru’s marine biodiversity were an ongoing issue and limited conservation initiatives were notorious throughout the country. Kerstin felt compelled to transform her project into a career that developed initiatives critical to help save marine life and habitat while also developing deep partnerships with local universities, government agencies, and fishermen.
Over the last decade, Planeta Océano’s work has geographically evolved to include a wide swath of Peruvian communities, including Lima and beyond. Our focus has also expanded into three main pillars: research, environmental education and sustainable development.
Our scientific research is an essential tool to guide adequate management and action plans. Our work includes conducting assessments on coastal and marine environments, studying ocean species and their anthropogenic threats and performing social research in local coastal communities. Volunteers, students, and local organizations frequently form part of our research teams. Our flagship research program focuses on helping save giant manta rays through spreading awareness of the species in fishing communities, promoting sustainable development within the industry and encouraging eco-tourism opportunities.
Our efforts have culminated into tangible change. We successfully advocated for the passing of Peru’s 2015 resolution to prohibit giant manta ray harvesting, and we were also instrumental in the nation’s passing of the 2020 resolution to ban sawfish harvesting.
We also aim to transform school systems to include more teachings on marine and coastal environments. In classrooms, we work to educate and empower the next generation of marine stewards to advocate for our integral ocean ecosystem. We promote the learning and appreciation of ocean literacy, connect students across borders, and provide tools that encourage youth leadership through our programs, like Connecting Schools. Our work has allowed students in and out of the classroom to learn about the ocean and be guided to design and implement their own projects and environmental-based campaigns.
Want to help us continue implementing critical change in Peru and beyond? Get involved now!
