Magnus Sylven

Career: PhD in Animal Ecology 1982, Research fellow at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 1979-1987, Director of Conservation, WWF Sweden, 1987-1991, Director of WWF Europe/Middle East Programme 1991-2007 at WWF International, and as of 2007 Independent Conservation Consultant (partly in association with the Stroming Bureau, the Netherlands, www.stroming.nl).

Experiences: During the period 1987-2007, the multi-functional tasks included (1) designing and setting-up national (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Latvia, Mongolia, Poland, Romania & Russia) and transboundary programmes and institutions (Arctic, Baltic, Caucasus, Danube-Carpathian, European Policy & Mediterranean), (2) facilitating the establishment of pan-European initiatives on large carnivores and large herbivores, (3) supervision of regional WWF programme activities (e.g. Natura 2000, reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, reform of the EU chemicals legislation, REACH), and (4) fundraising from private (foundations, corporate & individuals) and public sector (mainly from bilateral aid agencies) generating more than CHF 40 million.

Since 2007, the work has included supervision of (i) establishment of new protected areas (Lake Arpi National Park in Armenia & Javakheti National Park in Georgia), (ii) topic studies (Climate Change impacts in Southern Caucasus, WWF Global Policy Review, Future Vision for the Sustainable Development of the Yangtze Estuary/Delta, A CEMEX European Conservation Initiative, WWF International Conservation Practice & Policy Unit: Future Role and Priorities, the Wild Europe Field Programme), (iii) development of institutional business plans (PAN Parks, Large Herbivore Foundation, WWF International “One Planet Living”, and WWF-Turkey), (iv) project/programme evaluations and other reviews (TACIS capacity building in Russian Caucasus, rapid assessments of more than twenty WWF International programmes covering Arctic, Amazon, Amur Heilong, Borneo, Congo, Himalayas, Coral triangle, Danube-Carpathian, Mekong, Tiger, Asian Rhinos & Elephants, African Elephant & Rhinos, African Great Apes, Global Forest Trade Network, Climate Adaptation, Freshwater, Forests, Marine, and Species, book for Wild Wonders of Europe), (v) fundraising (International Climate Protection Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Germany, private foundations), and (vi) campaign development (“A One Planet Future Campaign for Turkey” addressing CBD, UNFCCC, energy, climate adaptation, food security, water, fisheries, Ecological Credit Crunch/Footprint, etc).