When Peter Schleifenbaum retired from his position as General Manager of Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve a few years ago, he enthusiastically pursued an opportunity to scratch a long standing, metaphorical “itch”. He now had the time and the opportunity to travel to exotic, dangerous and inhospitable locations. Recent destinations include North Korea, Eritrea, and El Salvador

His interest, clearly, is not the “holiday” tourism that is featured in the weekend editions of the daily newspapers. This is very small group excursions to some of the most difficult places on the planet to get into….and get out of. These expeditions are not booked through a local travel agency and they don’t come with glossy brochures.

Peter Schleifenbaum’s presentation will reflect on a selection of these excursions and will address a number of “issues” and aspects of foreign cultures that we in the west are not familiar with: corruption, slavery, voodoo, jihad, governance, colonialism, tribalism, demographics, development aid etc. Some of this information may be controversial, but will definitely add ’spice’ to the presentation and spark some lively discussions.

Bio

Peter Schleifenbaum grew up in Fredeburg, Germany. He studied forest history and economics at the University of Goettingen before moving to Haliburton with his wife and two daughters in 1988. He went on to assume the management of the family’s Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, focusing on sustainable forestry and tourism. One of his greatest achievements was Haliburton Forest’s certification as Canada’s first sustainable forest under the international FSC standards in 1998. Today Peter has retired from Haliburton Forest, but his heart and soul still remain in forestry. He now shares this passion with others while maintaining an adjunct professorship at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry.