Participants

Roy Dennis is one of Europe’s main pioneers in wildlife reintroductions, starting in the 1960s with the restoration of white-tailed eagles to Scotland. Since then he’s been involved in the reintroduction of ospreys, goldeneye ducks, peregrine falcons, red kites, and beavers, among other species. He presently directs the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, which coordinates or advices wildlife reintroduction projects in several European countries. His experiences are summarized in his recent book “Restoring the wild: sixty years of rewilding our skies, woods and waterways”.

Astrid coordinated the reintroduction program for the black-footed ferret in North America and the captive breeding program for the Iberian lynx in Spain. She also worked on the recovery of the golden-crowned sifaka in Madagascar, and is presently involved in a landscape restoration program in Southern Spain with emphasis on the recovery of butterflies and other pollinators. She recently directed and wrote the award-winning documentary “Head, heart and hands”.

Simon has been involved in tranlocations and reintroductions for more than 15 years with &Beyond. He manages Phinda Private Game Reserve, one of the boldest rewilding programs globally, where a whole landscape was restored from agricultural lands, including all its main large predators and herbivores. Simon has been involved in the planning and actual translocation of 100 rhinos to Botswana, 5 lions to Rwanda from South Africa, 30 rhinos to Rwanda from South Africa, initiated the reintroduction of pangolins back to Zululand, amongst many/numerous other translocations of buffalo, elephants, black and white rhino, lions, cheetah, serval and antelope.

Luis is the Director of the Oceania Conservation Program of the World Parrot Trust. He has 17 years of experience implementing reintroductions of vertebrates on small islands in New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands and Australia. He coordinated and implemented the first successful reintroduction of 100+ Red-crowned parakeets to the New Zealand mainland and assisted with the planning and implementation of the first reintroduction attempt of the Tasman parakeet to Phillip Island in the Norfolk Island region. He also helped the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park conducting the reintroduction of 2000+ Land iguanas to Santiago Island. He is currently assisting with the development and implementation of reintroductions of iguanas, snakes and mockingbirds in the Galapagos Islands as well as various parrot reintroduction projects in Oceania.

Ernesto Alvarez is director of GREFA, arguably the most experienced organization regarding captive breeding, rehabilitation and translocation of raptors in Europe. Ernesto has coordinated or is coordinating projects related to the restoration of populations of Bonelli’s eagles, cinereous vultures, Spanish imperial eagle, golden eagle, lesser kestrel and most recently white-tailed eagle.

Marc Stalmans is Director of Scientific Services for Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. He has decades of experience coordinating or consulting for translocation projects in several countries. These include: monitoring of herbivore population growth and spatial patterns following translocation in Gorongosa; assessment of habitat suitability and carrying capacity for herbivores in the iSimangaliso World Heritage Site, South Africa; determination of the carrying capacity for the reintroduction of rhino into Zinave National Park, Mozambique; Recommendations on the introduction of wildlife in Nyika National Park, Malawi; assessment of the carrying capacity for wildlife and recommendations for the translocation of herbivores and the re-introduction of cheetah in Maputo Special Reserve, Mozambique; and consulting on habitat restoration and re-introduction of wildlife that has disappeared in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Fernando is a veterinarian who has directed the GREFA Wildlife Hospital since 2003. He has provided veterinary assistance to numerous projects with endangered fauna, including the reintroductions of the black vulture, golden eagle, Bonelli’s eagle and lesser kestrel, among others.

Jorge is a veterinary practitioner who has participated in several international reintroduction and translocation projects. During six years he worked for Fundación Rewilding Argentina to manage veterinary aspects of reintroduction projects for 6 species of mammals and two species of birds, including jaguar, giant otter and giant anteater. He’s presently working as a field veterinarian in the in-situ Iberian lynx reintroduction project in Extremadura, Spain.

Francesca is a wildlife veterinarian and postdoc research fellow based in Kenya. Her research project focuses on improving the safety of capture and translocation of eastern black rhinos in Kenya. She has also been involved in translocation of several species in Kenya (e.g., lions, giraffes, Grevy’s zebras and other ungulates), with scientific focus on physiology and anesthesia. She has a deep interest in improving animal health during translocations.

Ulrich is the general manager of Oder Delta rewilding program, which includes the reintroduction of European Lynx, Atlantic Sturgeon as well as Salmon. The project also includes plans to translocate European Bison, and, potentially, European mink. Ulrich has personal experience with the management of some if these last species from other parts of Germany.

Gerardo is curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates in Chester Zoo. He’s experienced in prioritizing and developing conservation and research projects since he was involved in the early years of the Recovery Program for the Mallorcan midwife toad in the 90s. Since then he’s been directly involved with zoo breeding programs of threatened endemic species in several countries linking ex situ with in situ conservation, research and training initiatives around the world. He’s actively involved in the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) as chair of the Amphibian Taxon Advisory Group (ATAG) and vice-chair for the Conservation Translocation Working Group and member of the Conservation Committee for EAZA plus coordinator of the EEP Studbooks of the mountain chicken frog and Komodo dragon.

Malaka is a wildlife veterinarian working for the Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka. He works on the Elephant Transit Home (ETH), the first Asian elephant rehabilitation center, targeted on the rehabilitation of orphan elephant calves. His duties include treating elephant calves in ways that allow for reintroduction prior their puberty. He’s been also involved on immobilization/translocations of individual elephants, sloth bears, crocodile and leopards.

Hanna is Research and Management Coordinator for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project in Hawaii, with more than 16 years of experience managing Hawaiian species. She planned and implemented a translocation for the critically endangered kiwikiu (a Hawaiian honeycreeper numbering ~150 individuals). This translocation was unsuccessful and new recovery options are being explored. MFBRP is also planning the conservation introduction of alala (Hawaiian crow, extinct in the wild but over 100 in captivity) to Maui Nui, in the Hawaiian Islands. She is also on several working groups looking at planning the translocation of four other Hawaiian honeycreeper species in the coming decade.

Nicolò works as the Vulture Field Officer in the Rewilding Apennines association. He participates in the reintroduction of griffon vultures in the Central Apennines. Nicolò deals with the monitoring and study of the population, with particular attention to the study of diet, prevention of poisoning and capture of individuals for the installation of GPS devices.

Friederike (Fidu) Pohlin holds a veterinary degree from Vetmeduni Vienna and a master’s degree in Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management from BOKU Vienna, Austria. Fidu was a team-member of numerous rhino conservation translocation operations taking place in southern Africa, coordinating sample collections and learning from experts in the field. Since 2020, Fidu works for the Wildlife Medicine Group of the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology of the Vetmeduni Vienna, Austria. The group is responsible for a variety of veterinary, clinical and research related tasks working with large carnivores, wild ungulates, small hibernators and birds. Fidu has authored numerous publications on the challenges to animal welfare associated with black- and white rhino translocation. Last year, the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Vets recognized the importance of her scientific output by awarding the Rudolph Ippen Young Scientist Award.

Juan José has experience in reintroduction programs for golden eagles, black vultures, lesser kestrel and Bonelli’s eagle in different regions of Spain.

Deborah is a scientist with focus on translocations and ex-situ conservation. She supervises students, arranges the multiplication of threatened plants for translocation projects of conservation offices, organizes workshops for conservation practitioners and scientists to promote a national network and facilitate the exchange of latest scientific findings, practical experiences and legal requirements. She is presently involved in a BiodivERsA funded project studying the ecological, evolutionary and sociological trajectories of translocation projects in the Western Palearctic.

Jason has authored several peer-reviewed publications on the design and efficacy of Hawaiian monk seal translocations. He is also collaborating with colleagues in Spain and Mauritania to provide quantitative and technical support for potential reintroduction of Mediterranean monk seals from the Cabo Blanco colony in Western Sahara/Mauritania to previously occupied habitats in the eastern Atlantic.

Professor of Ecology at the University of Alcala. His research focuses on the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. He currently leads a Master’s Program on Ecosystem Restoration. He founded with other colleagues from different countries in the world the International Foundation for Ecosystem Restoration intended to transfer academic knowledge to the society. He also presides the recently created Rewilding Spain foundation.

Dinarte is a malacologist working for the Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza, IP-RAM. He coordinates a program aimed to rescue four CR land snails species from the outermost Desertas Islands (Madeira, Portugal). In 2021 his team rescued and successfully started a captive breeding program in Chester and Bristol Zoos (UK). Based on the species conservation strategy, the next step will be the species reintroduction at Bugio, the southern island of the Desertas group, where no predations and disruptive exotic species are present.

Lisa is program manager for the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project/ Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit in Hawaii. She has overseen the reintroduction of two cohorts of captive bred Puaiohi back into the wild. She’s presently involved in deliberations about whether translocation to another Hawaiian Island is suitable for two critically endangered bird species.

Victoria is currently working on the LIFE project “Egyptian vulture New Life”, which includes a feasibility study for the restocking of the Egyptian vulture in Bulgaria and Greece. The project also includes captive breeding and pilot release actions for the species in Bulgaria.

Rebeca Grande Gómez is a Spanish wildlife veterinarian who has worked in ex-situ an in-situ conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Spain. Currently, she is the primary veterinarian monitoring the health of the free-ranging lynx population in Castilla-La Mancha. She is also studying a Master of Veterinary Science in Conservation Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Duncan Grossart is a zoologist and Managing Director of Journeys With Purpose, a gateway to the world’s most ambitious conservation projects, creating immersive hosted experiences in the wildest corners of the world.  Each journey is hosted by leading pioneers in conservation, offering unprecedented access to behind the scenes of rewilding initiatives.  Their guests include philanthropists, donors and other influencers who help inform and catalyze the celebration and advancement of nature restoration projects across the world. Journeys With Purpose is a member of 1% for the Planet, The Long Run, and a Certified B Corp.

Gabone is a conservation biologist with experience in the Iberian lynx ex-situ program, both in management and training of the reintroduction animals and ethological monitoring. She is presently working as a field technician in the in-situ Iberian lynx LIFE LynxConnect project, carrying out tasks like radio tracking, camera trapping and capturing for radio-tagging.

Lucila studied chemical engineering in Buenos Aires and environmental engineering in Madrid, where she worked as a consultant for a private forestry agency. In 2017 she began working at Fundación Rewilding Argentina, being one of the founders of the marine conservation program, with the aim of achieving the protection of at least 10% of the Argentinean Sea. She currently serves as director of strategy and development in the organization, taking rewilding on tour around the world and seeking funds to finance projects on the ground.