Claudio Padua, Institute for Ecological Research

Dr. Claudio Padua is cofounder, with his wife Suzana, of the Institute for Ecological Research (IPE), which works on conservation projects throughout Brazil.

What I envisioned yesterday came to pass: Today is one of the most important days in my professional life and it gives me great pleasure to share it with you, Grist readers.

After much work, we signed the accord that officially and definitively launches the Wildlife Trust Alliance, a network of eight mid-sized non-governmental organizations and several individuals. We have joined forces to: foster innovative conservation science and lasting local conservation; express a mutual commitment to practical, multidisciplinary programs at sites around the world; and facilitate joint ventures in research, policy design, and implementation, as well as in fundraising and mentoring.

Twelve years have passed since we first conceived the network. Some people say achievement requires 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. My own version is similar: 10 percent inspiration, 10 percent perspiration, and 80 percent persistence. A more fatalistic way of seeing this is that goals are only achieved when the right moment arrives -- sometimes ideas we have today will only be realized many years from now. Despite my philosophical digression, it is a fact that today we were able to achieve a highly desired objective, and it is time to open the champagne and raise a toast.

As life is made interesting by its details, what I am telling you might not be interesting if I don't mention the steps we took to create the Alliance. I cannot cover the years of preparation, but at least I can tell you what happened today.

The morning session began with a lecture by my wife Suzana about the results of yesterday's expectations exercise. We recognized through her analysis that there is consensus about the most important parts of the proposal. Still, some signs of concern led us to open up more discussion with the group so we could clarify or modify the formal document that defines the framework of the WTA. During this period, which took all morning, we had a few moments of tension, as always happens when a group must make decisions together about issues of common interest -- especially a heterogeneous group representing different cultures.

The difficulties and differences of opinion from time to time required Mary Pearl and me to explain aspects of the framework in more detail; these were discussed exhaustively until there was agreement. There were moments of great anxiety and tension, but I went to lunch with the sense that consensus had been obtained. As my grandfather, a wise Brazilian politician, used to say, "A meeting can only be finished after everything has been agreed upon."

The afternoon's work was reading the establishing framework document item by item, chapter by chapter, until everyone was in harmony about its content. Instrumental to the success of this session was Martin Kaplan, a member of Wildlife Trust's board of directors and a partner in the prestigious law firm of Hale and Dorr, where initial drafts of the document were prepared. Suzana took on the role of secretary and kept up with the changes in the document as discussion went on.

The afternoon coffee break had to be delayed so that we could continue our work, which was advancing so well. Finally, the document was accepted by everyone. During the break, it was printed and photocopied, and when we returned we signed it. I hope you can see from the photograph how happy we all were at that moment.

But the day was not finished yet. After signing the framework, we still had to make initial preparations for the program evaluation of our Indian partner, the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation.

What a day, what a day. I don't know if readers agree, but there are not many days in which one has the sensation that one's life really matters. This was one of those days. I am so drained of energy after so much work and anxiety that only a break can bring me back to reality. Tomorrow, happily, I can be a tourist and get to know Bangalore a little bit -- and describe it to you.