The EUROPARC Library of Experience is a curation of ideas, tips and advice from experienced people working in protected areas. We bring you their personal advice, reveal what has motivated them, how they continue with challenges and difficulties and how they can then inspire others.
We aim at touching all those working for nature, and especially young people coming into the profession.
Michael Hošek
Michael is the President of the EUROPARC Federation since 2021. He holds an M.Sc in Landscape Ecology and Management and has a long experience in Natura 2000 management, especially with the implementation of the Nature Directives in Czech Republic while managing the Nature Conservation unit at the Czech Ministry of Environment. He is a board member of IUCN and has represented CZ in the European Commission bodies.
Ignace Schops
Ignace was EUROPARC’s President since 2014. He is an environmentalist who started his work on the field of Nature conservation as an enthusiast herpetology expert. Later, he became the Director of the first Regional Landscape in Belgium and implemented a whole new system to recover landscape. He was later awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his contribution to nature in his home country.
Listen to our podcast with him
Marta Múgica
Marta is the Director of EUROPARC Spain and the Foundation Fernando González Bernáldez. “Do not give up” it’s probably her biggest advice, and you can see how she walks the talk in her daily work, inspiring and sharing her motivations with her team and protected area managers across Spain.
Nele Sõber
Nele is a Nature education specialist from Estonia, who has worked in different sectors (private, public and non-governmental) before her heart surrendered to nature conservation. The experiences in the different sectors and the marketing and international business background, gave her a broader view of organizational management and a deep insight into how people think. In her work, she deals with governance and public acceptance – and as Nele says, “the only way to show locals how nature protection and conservation are needed is through engagement in all ways – even if the issues are difficult.”
Marià Martí
Marià is the managing director of the Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona) and former Secretary General of Fedenatur. Hard work and honesty are for him core values to work in any professional field, but for him, the great difference lies in those who made it for nature, biodiversity, and ecological balance. Indeed, Mariá believes that this care for our common natural heritage “should permeate all areas of our life.”