Travelling to unusual places in search of interesting investments, occasionally leads to finding undervalued assets of an entirely different kind.

One such under-appreciated asset, were the youngsters of the fabled Galapagos Islands.

Located a 1,000 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador, these are the world's best-preserved tropical islands. Its giant tortoises and sea-faring iguanas are the most prominent inhabitants, but there are actually plenty of other reasons why this particular place has become every researcher's and nature lover's dream destination. More than 97% of the island's landmass is protected as National Parkland, and decades of conservation work have made kept this as the world's best-preserved tropical archipelago.

What hardly anyone knows, is that there are also some 30,000 people inhabiting the Galapagos.

In 2006, the sale of a limited edition of my first book raised the necessary funds for establishing a vocational school in Galapagos' capital; the picturesque fishing village Puerto Ayora. This schooling project was not only the first vocational school of the entire group of islands, but it was also the first time that a conscious decision was made to view the islanders not as a burden for the National Park, but as an asset.

The school is aimed at preparing high school students for a career in the hospitality industry. With a prospect of working in the Galapagos $200 million tourism industry, locals do not need to stray into illegal activities such as hunting shark fins. The education project gives the local young generation a stake in the National Park, rather than excluding them from it as had so far long been the case. With the school also teaching principles of ecology - such as which fish can be sustainably harvested from the marine reserve around the islands, every graduate is also turned into a National Park ambassador within the local community.

UNESCO called the Galapagos vocational school one of South America's most outstanding projects. It was entirely privately financed, with the sale of my special edition book providing the finance for the initial 24 months. Further donations from business associates and myself have in the meantime expanded the program into a programme teaching 60 students, up from an initial 24 students.

I am currently working to expand the program from teaching not just Chefs, but other vocations too. The informal legal structure of the program will soon be turned into a registered Ecuadorian charity, with the backing of the Charles Darwin Foundation.

Read up on the latest developments, at www.educando-en-galapagos.org, our English-language website for the project.