Biodiversity Conservation

The most unique feature of Earth is
the existence of life, and the most
extraordinary feature of life is
its diversity

 

During the last 50 years, human activity has caused the decline of 60% of the planet’s diversity of life.  The structure of our current economic model threatens the extinction of more than a million species, including our own (1).

Species recovery should not be consider in isolation, but within the context of restoring ecosystems.  “Rewilding" allows us to work on nature’s diversity at a landscape level, focusing not just on the health of a single species, but on assemblies of species, mindful of each one’s role in the ecosystem upon which they all depend.

Species Recovery / Rewilding

Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus)

“Astrid’s years as head of the Iberian lynx breeding program resulted in an authentic revolution. She is remembered by everyone for her energy, her capacity for work, her kindness, and for her constant search for consensus, which she managed to obtain thanks to the firmness in her own convictions but also due to her ability to listen and integrate different positions."

Miguel Aymerich,Ministry of the Environment, Spain

Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes)

“Astrid has always been determined to fight the best fight possible to try to help create a new reality of hope.  She isn’t naive, but rather pleasantly persistent. Helping save the black-footed ferret from extinction was her first professional job after graduate school… and she has continued to provide similar enthusiasm wherever she has travelled."

Pete Gober,USFWS, USA

Golden-crowned Sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli)

“Astrid has the integrity of someone who deeply cares about both the natural world and her working partners, the vision of a creative artist, the technical abilities of a wildlife veterinarian turned into conservation biologist and then reinvented as a conflict manager, the empathy of someone who can place herself in the shoes of others, and the humour of one who really enjoys what she’s doing."

Ignacio Jiménez,Three Kingdoms Project, Spain

Jaguar (Panthera onca)

As a highly regarded advisor on our team, Astrid’s ideas, planning strategies, her contacts, and her generosity in sharing her extensive knowledge and experience proved vital in helping make our jaguar program a success. Astrid made us all feel we had effective international support we could lean on for our rewilding work in Argentina".

Sofia Heinonen,Rewilding Argentina, Argentina

Butterflies (Family Papilionoidea)

“Astrid is a great professional, with admirable soundness in her technical skills and great communication abilities. She is inspiring, understands people and has a natural warmth that facilitates her leadership of teams. I have always been impressed by how she could mobilise very different partners in a project, from politicians, funders, and scientist to farmers or teachers."

Eladio Fernández-Galiano,Council of Europe (former)