Roel Cattoor
Who am I?
Hi there! I’m Roel Cattoor, I’m 25 years old and I’m from Belgium. I graduated in 2006 as a Professional Bachelor of Science (Biology (M), Physics and Geography). At the last year of uni I took the chance to go abroad for 3 months. I ended up going to Suriname, South America for 3 months where I worked for WWF and the local environmental organization STINASU. It was a great experience working with turtles at turtle beach in Galibi, observing wading birds and birds of prey in one of the most exclusive bird reserves in the world, researching the blue arrow frogs deep in the jungle,… It just didn’t stop and I loved it!
After graduating I moved to Australia where I lived for 2 years. In Winter I worked as a ski instructor and ski technician in the Snowy Mountains, but in Summer (mid September-May) I worked as an Outdoor Instructor in some of Australia’s finest National Parks where kangaroos, wombats, possums,… were grazing daily on our campsites. We took mainly (high-) schools to the bush where rock climbing, rafting, abseiling,.. are just a few of our daily activities. The other accent during these outdoor Experiences was Eco-awareness. During my time Down Under I also discovered other magnificent places like Fiji, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hawaii, Borneo, et cetera.
A couple months later I was lucky to fly to Canada for a crazy Winter Season and some decent travelling afterwards. The states I visited: British Columbia and Alberta were also breath taking when it comes to nature and wildlife. Also, like in Australia and NZ, the people here were so friendly and laid back and they appreciated life like it is.
During my stay in Canada I subscribed for the project in Madagascar, a new adventure was looming.
A couple months later I was lucky to fly to Canada for a crazy Winter Season and some decent travelling afterwards. The states I visited: British Columbia and Alberta were also breath taking when it comes to nature and wildlife. Also, like in Australia and NZ, the people here were so friendly and laid back and they appreciated life like it is.
During my stay in Canada I subscribed for the project in Madagascar, a new adventure was looming.
My advice?
Go with a very open mind! Leave everything you think you might have learned about life behind for a few weeks and like we said to our guests at camp:, Don’t take the city back to the wilderness, but take the wilderness back to the city!
Keep in mind that you can learn much more from the local people than you would ever think. Maybe we can teach them a couple things about agriculture, production and trade but we can learn so so so much more from them about the most important thing we’ve got: LIFE!
Please don’t go thinking ‘and now I will teach them how to live,’ but go with an open mind as in: “let’s see what we can learn from each other.
Please don’t go thinking ‘and now I will teach them how to live,’ but go with an open mind as in: “let’s see what we can learn from each other.
Go with an open mind as in:
Let’s see what we can learn from each other
Back home...
Well, I’m back home and just got a job at a snow field in the French Alps. I’ll be back on the road soon, back to a new adventure.
Want to know more?
Feel free to contact me!
Explore Ivohibe's Wildlife
Roel Cattoor, WWF Volunteer with the WWF Madagascar Holistic Forest Conservation Programme, takes you on an exploratory path to discover Ivohibe's wildlife (COBA Avotra)
