ECNC

Nationality: Dutch Position: Executive Director  Contact: wolters@ecnc.org Education: MSc Honours in Human Geography with specializations in Town and Country Planning, Economic Geography, Physical Geography, Environmental Geography, Environmental Law and Sociology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Background information: As executive director, Rob is responsible for the daily manage-

ment and for all projects of ECNC. He is also the Executive of the European House for Biodiversity and Sustainability.

Rob is involved in a number of projects, including projects in the fields of stakeholder involvement, ecological networks, financing biodiversity and support to policy processes. He has extensive experience in dealing with complex international processes and with relevant intergovernmental biodiversity processes (CBD, EU, pan-European, national and regional). He has large experience in addressing the economic value of biodiversity, and is an expert in ecological and landscape connectivity. Rob is chairman of various international fora. He was the first President of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS).

Before joining ECNC, Rob worked at the then Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries in several functions, where he was involved in the implementation of the Nature Protection Act and responsible for the coordination of European and global biodiversity policies, especially EU nature policies and nature cooperation with CEE, and European integrated coastal conservation.

Rob also worked as researcher at the University of Groningen, for revitalisation of excavated areas and the relationship between agriculture and nature.