Lake Pape - The People

Ints Mednis, Lake Pape Project Leader

Ints Mednis is the Lake Pape Project's leader. He was born in 1975 in Cesis (Northern Latvia) and grew up during the Soviet era. He spent his young years in a stone house built on the edge of a forest. So he spent a lot of time in the forest. His grandfather was a vet, much interested in birds. Ints was wandering with him through the forests and bird-watching in the countryside.

At school, he did not like math and physics, and was rather into geography, social sciences and biology. "I had this young and open teacher who used to organize hiking, boating and camping tours in nature," he recalls. "Although, at that time I did not know exactly what I wanted to do later, I wanted to know more about birds and fish, as I was also fishing.

But there was no bird guides available at Soviet times. "To get rid of his frustrations of not finding any suitable book to learn more about his favourite birds, Ints started to climb into the tree and collect nests, that he was describing and comparing. He eventually learned a lot about birds by himself.

Then he started to attend excursions organized by the Latvian Ornithological Society, and learned even more. Later he worked as a volunteer in the Lake Pape area and that is how he started to know about this region.

At University, he initially chose geography because he thought that his disinterest in maths and physics would make it difficult to study biology. At the end, he got a master on Political Science, focussing on the relations between Latvia and the EU. "At the independence of the country in 1990, it was trendy to study political sciences, so I switched," he explains.

His first job was with the Implementation Unit for reconstruction and development at the Ministry of Transport. He was managing foreign loans for the reconstruction of roads. After more of 2 years of what he describes as a very routine job, he saw a WWF ad for the position of the Head of Conservation.

He knew about WWF since its creation in Latvia in 1991. "I was hired because, during my interview, I stressed that a Head of Conservation should not be necessarily a biologist but rather a solid manager with good diplomatic skills," he believes. "Biologists can do the work in the field, but when you have to negotiate with the government or convince farmers and hunters you need political expertise."

His current job changed his life. "It is not a complicated job, it is very structured, quite straightforward," he says. "But working for an NGO such as WWF means that you have to adapt very quickly as things can develop at fast pace, and often unexpectedly, you have to remain very open and flexible."

It is very challenging, and Ints likes that: "You have to think about zillions of things at the same time - management, financing, project reports, communications, field trips. Most of the time, you have to do everything on your own, especially in a small office, which can eat your days and nights." He also very much likes the fact that he has some independence in his work, and there is room for creativity, imagination, especially when looking for solutions.

What he finds hard about the job is the permanent lack of time and funding insecurity, which hampers the implementation of many good ideas. "WWF is perceived as a strong environmental organization, people think we have a lot of money, which makes our task very difficult when looking for funds."

He describes himself as a very diplomatic character. He likes to listen to those he speaks with. He likes to go deep into the processes. "But sometimes, I also lose the sense of time, I need to do something all the time, even simple things like cutting the grass in front of WWF's Information Centre at Lake Pape."

He sees himself in this position for a few more years. Nothing abnormal in this, as he is achieving results, and receives more and more support from the different parties involved, which boosts his motivation.