Alianta Conversations: Foundation Conservation Carpathia Founders

Join us on February 14 at 10AM EST for a conversation with the founders of Conservation Carpathia Foundation, Christoph and Barbara Promberger.

Your host, Alianta board member and media executive John Florescu, will lead the discussion and discovery of how the organization came to be and what is it like guarding Europe’s largest virgin forest.

About our guests

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Barbara Promberger is the Executive Director of Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC). Mrs. Promberger holds a MSc. in biology/zoology from Graz and Vienna University in Austria. Her expertise lies in large carnivore research and management, protected area development and management, and forest ecosystem conservation. Since 1995, Mrs. Promberger has initiated conservation programs in Romania, Armenia, and Belarus. Her work has included promoting biodiversity in organic farming initiatives, promoting ecotourism, community outreach, land conservation, research on species restoration, forest and carnivore management, and equestrian ecotourism. In 2003, Mrs. Promberger, in partnership with her husband, Christoph Promberger, established Equus Silvania, which has since become the leading Romanian equestrian eco-tourism operator. Mrs. Promberger’s experience includes significant research on the primary carnivores in the Carpathian Mountains, including wolves, bears, and lynx. She has studied predator-prey relationships and conflict management between carnivores and livestock, developed ecotourism in the region, and with her husband, has been involved in over 50 television documentaries and 250 international media reports.

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Christoph Promberger is the Executive Director of Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC). Mr. Promberger holds a MSc. in forestry and wildlife biology from Munich University. Since 1993, Mr. Promberger has been involved in a variety of wildlife conservation programs. With co-partners, he has initiated conservation programs in Romania, Croatia, Turkey, and Belarus. His work has included promoting biodiversity in organic farming initiatives, promoting ecotourism, community outreach, land conservation, research on species restoration, forest and carnivore management, and equestrian ecotourism. In Romania, Mr. Promberger’s experience includes significant research on the primary carnivores in the Carpathian Mountains, including wolves, bears, and lynx. He has studied predator-prey relationships and conflict management between carnivores and livestock, developed ecotourism in the region, and have been involved in over 50 television documentaries and 250 international media reports. A few works cited include an article in Wolf Magazine in 1996; and, a publication published in 2006 entitled Wildlife Watching and Tourism: A Study on the Benefits and Risks of a Fast Growing Tourism Activity and its Impacts on Species.

About Foundation Conservation Carpathia

Foundation Conservation Carpathia is the largest private forest conservation project in Europe, helping to restore the natural ecosystems of the Carpathian Mountains for the benefit of biodiversity and local communities. Since 2009, the Foundation has saved over 27,000 hectares of forest and alpine meadows in the south-eastern Southern Carpathians from logging by purchasing them for conservation purposes, planted over 4.1 million seedlings and ecologically restored over 1,991 hectares affected by logging, and created a 78,000 hectare no-take zone for sport and trophy hunting.

The Foundation contributes to the well-being of the communities surrounding the protected forests through social, educational and green business development projects, and its long-term vision is the creation of the Făgăraș Mountains National Park.