“We believe that courage means not looking the other way”

Courage is a muscle that needs to be trained. We are putting people who inspire courage in the spotlight: people who are taking vigorous action in areas such as climate action, political education, international understanding, and refugee protection. 

Wetlands don’t have a particularly good image. They are desolate, muddy and bleak - and have served as the backdrop to more than one horror story. Ann Christin and Alexander Kornelsen want to showcase some rather different narratives. They see wetlands as “magical ecosystems with superpowers” because they store huge quantities of CO2.  

The scientist Ann Christin and her marketing expert husband Alexander founded Mission to Marsh to campaign for wetlands, take part in renaturation projects and stage lectures to raise awareness of the important role that wetlands play in protecting the climate. And they inspire others to have the courage of their own convictions. We talked to them about this.    

What does courage mean to you? 

For us, courage begins where your comfort zone ends. When we gave up our secure jobs to dedicate ourselves to wetlands we had no guarantees - only our conviction that we needed to do something to contribute. We believe that courage means not looking the other way when you have the feeling that the Earth is on fire. It’s not about pinning our hopes on Mars but about believing in a future here. Courage means viewing nature as our strongest ally and fighting for it, even if it is silent.

What gives you hope? 

We believe that nature is resilient. It is just waiting for us to work with rather than against it. We are given hope each day by the wetlands. By every single drop of water that proves that the ecosystem is still alive. By peat bogs that are growing again after decades of destruction.

Who inspires you? 

The British primatologist Jane Goodall, who sadly died in 2025. She taught us that we need not only to understand ecosystems scientifically but also to communicate their importance on an emotional level. We are also inspired by every scientist, every activist and every mother or father who asks themselves the following question: “What sort of world are we leaving for our children?” This is the question that drives us on - in our work, on a personal level and as a family.