Sandra Wigger is drawn to the EuroNatur philosophy of creating networks for Nature in Europe: “EuroNatur not only connects up habitats and populations of wild animals, it also brings people together across national borders to develop and cooperate in projects for the protection of natural life. I see this as one of the keys to the successful pursuit of nature conservation.“
Sandra Wigger joined the EuroNatur team in 2015 and is responsible in particular for local projects for cultural landscape protection and strengthening sustainable regional development in the Balkans. One focus of her work is on the Balkan Green Belt, the southernmost section of this unique network of habitats. Here it is a question of anchoring the idea of the Green Belt more firmly in society and improving the coordination of the separate projects.
She is from Lower Saxony and took her degree in environmental studies at the University of Oldenburg. As part of the Regional Development and Nature Conservation Master's course at the Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences she examined habitat interconnection in the Sierra del Lacandón National Park in Guatemala and gained knowledge that she can now apply in her work with Geographical Information Systems within the European Green Belt initiative. In her own words: “Nature needs plenty of space to flourish and develop. This means that nature conservation needs to permeate all areas of human activity.“