FTF members
On international issues
Krystyna Stachura-Skierczyńska, Forest Task Force Coordinator
e-mail: krystyna.stachura@otop.org.pl
I have been involved in the Birdlife FTF activities since 2005 when I started working as the Coordinator of the Polish module of Biologically Important Forests Mapping. After finishing the project, I was given the opportunity to continue working on forest conservation-related issues.
Veronika Ferdinandova, Forest Task Force Coordinator until 2009
e-mail: veronika.ferdinandova@bspb.org
Many years ago BSPB (BirdLife in Bulgaria), gave me the chance to better understand the need for nature conservation. Being experienced in academic aspects and practical forestry, and at the same time being familiar with conservation issues related to forests I tried to approach the problems in their complex context.
Andrzej Bobiec, FTF Head of Biodiversity Research
e-mail: andbob@tlen.pl
Before being hired by OTOP I studied structural characteristics of natural and man-altered forests in Poland's Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF). In 1995 I co-founded the Society for Protection of the BPF, an ENGO aiming to preserve the whole Białowieża ecosystem.
I am pleased to join BirdLife FTF both as a scientific expert of the Belarus-Poland Mapping Project and as a Research Officer. My current research is primarily on indicators for helping to identify natural or almost natural forest conditions. This is a huge topic, and I will be relying heavily on information collected and shared by others. I welcome correspondence from others working in this field.
Diyana Kostovska, Head of the FTF’s Biologically Important Forests Working group
e-mail: diyana.kostovska@bspb.org
Before, I worked as a specialist in tourism and recreation at the Central Balkan National Park in Bulgaria and as an assistant in research projects in Munich. I graduated at the Forestry University and the Technical University in Munich, MSc Programme in Sustainable Resource Management.
Sini Harkki, Head of the FTF's working group on forest certification
e-mail: sini.harkki@sll.fi
I have worked in Finnish NGOs for the last six years on various forest issues and my most important campaign was the protection of old-growth forests in North Finland. I am one of the authors of two reports on Finnish PEFC-certification and I have also participated in the development of the Finnish national FSC standard. Our most important task in the working group is the ecological assessment of FCS’s impacts. I’d also like BirdLife to be more active in the plantation issue. We need to share our expertise more effectively.
National Forest Officers
Vanya Ratarova – BSPB / BirdLife Bulgaria, vanya.ratarova@bspb.org
Cristian Domsa – SOR / BirdLife Romania, cristi.domsa@sor.ro
Pavol Polak – SOS / BirdLife Slovakia, pali@stiavnica.net
Gabor Wichmann – BirdLife Austria, gabor.wichmann@birdlife.at