“Where Wildlife and People Meet: Ecotourism and Nature Conservation in Slovakia”
by
Robin Rigg
Slovak Wildlife Society
Sunday, September 15, 2024
2:00 pm ET
Online – Zoom
Click on this link to RSVP
From the majestic peaks of the Tatra Mountains to the expansive Danube Lowland, Slovakia has a rich and beautiful natural heritage. The country’s small size belies its relatively high levels of biodiversity. Large carnivores survived here, in the heart of crowded Europe, while they vanished from much of the rest of the continent. In recent years, the numbers of wolves and, especially, brown bears have increased substantially, presenting both challenges and opportunities. This talk explores the potential of ecotourism, from passive wildlife watching to active conservation volunteering, to help foster sustainable approaches to human–wildlife coexistence.
Robin Rigg is a dual Slovak–British national specializing in wildlife conservation, research, management, and coexistence with local communities. He is chairman of the Slovak Wildlife Society (www.slovakwildlife.org) and a member of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. Robin has been hosting and guiding ecotourism experiences in Slovakia, including bear-watching and wolf-tracking, for 25 years. He has a Bachelors degree in Natural, Medical, & Veterinary Sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK, a Masters in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and is writing his PhD dissertation on wolves, at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Donations may be made to the Slovak Wildlife Society’s Carpathian Wolf Watch via their GoFundMe link, at https://www.gofundme.com/f/
