Head of Programme Forest Conservation
After his MA in Chinese studies, Siegmund Missall found himself in an existential crisis. The question of what really mattered to him became more and more pressing. At last, there was a clear answer: “Nature!” And then, at the age of 30, he began studying all over again and became Global Change Manager with the aim of promoting the protection of biodiversity at all levels.
As a researcher and lecturer at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, he succeeded in infecting students by the dozen with his enthusiasm. As EuroNatur’s Head of Forest Conservation, Siegmund has been taking practical action since 2024 to prevent the deforestation of Europe’s last primeval forests . His tasks include networking conservation partners, working with them to locate Europe’s primeval forests, proving that those forests are genuinely primeval and achieving their protection at national and EU level.
Siegmund Missall has seen many untouched forests, amongst others during a research stay in northwestern China on the Tarim, the world’s largest inland river. Forest ecosystems across all climate zones that “no human has yet tampered with” have made a lasting impression on him. He pursues the aim of effecting the protection of these valuable habitats with an infectious optimism. As an amateur free climber, he is used to persevering even under difficult conditions.
What Siegmund particularly likes about EuroNatur? “The foundation works reliably and on a long-term, goal-oriented basis with its conservation partners in the project areas. At EuroNatur, I can think in ten-year perspectives and thus develop realistic strategies with our partners for how we intend to achieve the protection of primeval forests in the Western Balkans, Romania or Ukraine. I will never tire of celebrating every acre that we manage to save!”