Manfred Niekisch
Manfred Niekisch (born 14 July 1951, Nuremberg, Germany) is a German biologist, international expert on conservation and director of the zoo of Frankfurt.
Life
Manfred Niekisch studied biology at the University of Cologne and completed his doctorate at the University of Bonn Dr. rer. nat. with studies on the colonization strategy of the yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata v. Linnaeus, 1758 ( Anura, Amphibia ). From 1983 to 1989 he was director of the conservation center / TRAFFIC Germany WWF - Germany, then to 1998, scientific director of the Tropical Forest Foundation OroVerde. From 1998 to 2008 he held the chair of " International Nature Conservation " at the University of Greifswald, the only professorship of its kind in Germany. In March 2008 he took over the management of the Frankfurt Zoo, which he plans to expand to an international conservation center. Took or he takes teaching positions for International Nature Conservation at the universities of Marburg, Hanoi / Vietnam, at the University of Applied Sciences Göttingen and at the Universidad Internacional de Andalucía in Seville. Since 2010 Niekisch is also Professor of International Nature Conservation at the Goethe University Frankfurt. The scientific content of his work is particularly in strategies and tools for sustainable use of natural resources, especially for the protection of biodiversity. This includes the international conventions with conservation relevance. Niekisch has authored numerous publications and co-editor of the Journal for Nature Conservation. He has work experience in numerous countries around the world, with a focus on Vietnam and the countries of Latin America.
Volunteering
Volunteering Manfred Niekisch has worked in many capacities, including as president of the Society for Tropical Ecology ( gtö ), Vice President of the Frankfurt Zoological Society ( FZS ), Vice President of the Foundation "Help for Threatened Wildlife ", Chairman of the Trustees of the tropical forest foundation OroVerde and as Chairman Board of Trustees of the Bruno H. Schubert Foundation. He is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas ( WCPA ) and the Species Survival Commission (SSC ) of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ) and the Comité Científico of Fundación Natura and honorary member of the Fundación Humedales (both Columbia ) and of the Advisory Board of the Global Nature Fund. He is also an international advisor of the Council for Research and Exploration, National Geographic. For 17 years he has also served as First Vice President of the German nature protection ring. In 2004 he was re-elected at the 3rd World Conservation Congress in the Council of the World Conservation Union IUCN, where he was also chair of the Programme and Policy Committee. After the two maximum possible terms, he finished this work in 2008. During the same year he was appointed Society for Nature Research, and by the Federal Cabinet in the Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU ) to the Board of the Senckenberg.