Parliamentary State Secretary Heinen-Esser welcomes participants from 15 countries in the Klaus Töpfer Fellowship Programme
This leadership training for participants from central and eastern Europe, central Asia and the Caucasus, who are working in nature conservation in their home institutions, is supported by the Federal Environment Ministry with funds from its advising assistance programme. The training is implemented by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and takes place at the International Academy for Nature Conservation on the island of Vilm. The patron of the fellowship is Dr Klaus Töpfer.
On the occasion of the opening session at the Federal Environment Ministry, Parliamentary State Secretary Ursula Heinen Esser welcomed the 20 future leaders in nature conservation from central and eastern Europe, the Caucasus and central Asia. In their home countries the participants work in government administration, national and international NGOs, research institutions and the private sector, dealing with fundamental issues of nature conservation. Over 13 months the participants in the Klaus Töpfer Fellowship Programme will take part in four training modules at the International Academy for Nature Conservation on the island of Vilm. The programme aims to train future decision makers for leadership in the area of national and international nature conservation.
Parliamentary State Secretary Heinen-Esser commented: "In the age of globalisation international cooperation has become a prerequisite for solving transboundary environmental problems. This is why the Federal Environment Ministry is committed to international environmental policy with a special emphasis on climate change and the loss of biodiversity. In the environmental field we have been cooperating closely with the target countries of the Klaus Töpfer Fellowship Program.
In 2000, the Federal Environment Ministry launched the advising assistance programme to support EU accession countries and eastern neighbouring countries in establishing the institutional prerequisites for sustainable development. The programme also funds the Klaus Töpfer Fellowship Programme.
As patron of the programme Klaus Töpfer, former Federal Environment Minister and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme UNEP for many years, also took part in the event and welcomed the participants.
The Klaus Töpfer Fellowship Programme is being implemented by the International Academy for Nature Conservation of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Since its foundation in 1990 the academy has become a forum for international networking in nature conservation and is well known around the globe.