The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Queen pays tribute to Commonwealth volunteers’ work
The Queen has paid tribute to the “wonderful” efforts of Commonwealth volunteers, including a turtle conservationist featured in Sir D av i d Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series.
Wildlife enthusiast Len Peters, from Trinidad, who c h a tt e d to the Queen during a video call, was the first person to receive the Commonwealth Points of Light award, which recognises outstanding volunteering work by individuals.
The Queen praised the efforts of Mr Peters and two other award recipients who were part of the call: “Thank you all for taking part in this programme.
“I’m delighted to have heard your stories and I think it’s wonderful work that you’re all doing, and volunteering so much. Thank you very much.”
Sir David featured the journey of the conservationist, who in the 1990s began as a concerned member of the public risking his safety to confront machete-wielding fellow islanders from Trinidad, who prized the flesh of leatherback turtles.
He set up beach patrols to ensure egg-laying females were safe and went on to recruit turtle poachers to his conservation effort and trained villagers to lead excursions for tourists to see leatherbacks coming ashore to breed.
The Queen asked Mr Peters about his appearance on the b r o a d c a s t e r ’s popular wildlife series: “So David Attenborough got to know what you were doing?”
He told the Queen his relatives were one of the largest turtle-eating families in his village but he and a group of friends came together “to try and make a difference”.
“Here you have a young boy from a turtle-eating family wanting to make a difference,” he said.
“At night we would walk the beach back and forth protecting the turtles that came up, to try to convince people that it was the right thing to do.
“What we didn’t know, that 30 years later that effort would see Trinidad being recognised as one of the most important nesting sites for the leatherback sea turtles in the world.”
He said when they started their conservation programme they would have 20 to 30 tur tles coming to nest – now they have 500 to 600.
Mr Peters received the Commonwealth Points of Light award for his community-driven Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guide Association and said the project had transformed the lives of those around him, with the economic drive of the community now focused on conservation.
Mr Peters said Sir David spent two weeks with them and “inspired the children to dream”.
During the video call the Queen experienced her first v irtua l mus ica l per formance, when 45 children per formed in celebration of her recent 73rd wedding anniversary.
The young musicians were from a symphony orchestra that is part of Sistema Cyprus – an organisation founded by Cypriot music teacher Nikoletta Polydorou to suppor t disadvantaged children by providing free music education and instruments.
Also during the call, fellow Commonw e a l t h Points of Light recipient Ruy Santos, from Mozambique, took the Queen on a virtual tour of Makobo, a collaborative work space he founded in 2009 to promote nutrition, education and youth employment.