About us

About us

Sphenisco – Conservation of the Humboldt-Penguin, in coordination with Chilean activists and scientists, desires to save the Humboldt penguin from extinction.

The wild populations on the coasts of Chile and Peru are threatened by a variety of factors. The reduction in the fish population through overfishing and climatic changes, ocean pollution, and illegal harvesting of guano are taking away the Humboldt-Penguin's basis for life. In addition, animals die in fishnets, by fishing through the use of dynamite, or are caught and eaten or used as fish bait. Uncontrolled tourism destroys the breeding colonies and reduces the clutch's chance of success. Currently, one of the most important breeding areas, located in northern Chile, is threatened via the planned building of coal-fired power plants.

Primary goals to prevent the extinction of the Humboldt penguin are the protection and survelliance of breeding colonies, the creation of marine protection areas, and the prohibition of fishing with gill nets and dynamite. Further, it is important to sensitize the local population to natural and species protection and alternative methods of deriving income, such as eco-tourism.

Sphenisco will support the in-situ work, primarily in the areas of environmental education, research and development of sustainable sources of income. Next to the placing of volunteers and researchers, Sphenisco helps concretely through the preparation of media about environmental education.

Organisation Sphenisco

Ececutive Board
Gabriele Knauf
Gabriele KnaufFounder and President from 2008 - 2023
* 11.07.1954, † 21.03.2023
Werner Knauf
Werner KnaufPresident
Dr. Christina Schubert
Dr. Christina SchubertVice President
Klaus Blumer
Klaus BlumerTreasurer
Representative in Chile
Nancy Duman B.
Nancy Duman B.Coordinator and represantative of Sphenisco in Chile

Note

All images are the property of Sphenisco e.V. or the photographers named.

Use is only permitted after consultation and approval.

We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.