Greenwich go-kart boss in fight to save rainforest

A British businesswoman who married a shaman in Ecuador is leading a fight to prevent an oil company developing part of the Amazon rainforest.

Mari Muench, 49, used to manage a go-kart track in Greenwich before leaving for South America five years ago.

During her stay in Sani Isla, a tribal community on the banks of Ecuador’s Napo River that promotes eco-tourism, she met Patricio Jipa, the then-president of the Kichwa tribe.

Now married, the couple are heading a campaign to prevent planned exploration of the tribe’s ancestral territory by crude oil producer Petroamazonas.

The state-owned company has offered the tribe $600,000 (£387,700) for the rights to 172 acres of land, although it put its plans for Sani Isla on hold last month in response to the campaign. But Mr Jipa, who performs healing ceremonies using shamanic energy, insisted he was prepared to “fight to the death” for the cause if necessary.

He added: “We will first fight with words, but if they respond badly, we will have to do the same.”

Ms Muench, who lost her business after slipping on a nightclub floor and injuring herself, met Mr Jipa at a school party when he asked her to dance.

She recalled: “As we left the hall, I had a sudden flash where I thought, ‘Oh My God, I’m going to live here with you and have your baby’.”

He too claims to have seen his fate aged just 15 when he a had a vision of a “blonde, white woman, overweight and wearing sunglasses” coming into his life.

The couple now have a daughter named Samai. Ms Muench said: “I’m not an eco-activist, I’m just a woman from a go-kart track in Greenwich, but now I have to fight for my daughter’s future.”