Head of Programme Large Carnivores
Even as a student, Mareike Brix was already interested in bears, lynx and wolves. The first stage in her professional career as a graduate biologist took her to Romania. There, Mareike Brix spent four years conducting basic research into the ecology of various mammals and devoted a lot of time to field work. From 2017 to 2020, she made use of this experience to work in the EuroNatur team as a project manager for bear and lynx conservation in Europe, gaining valuable experience as a nature conservation and area management officer in the Swabian Alb biosphere reserve, before returning to work at the European level. Mareike Brix has been Head of the Large Carnivores Division at EuroNatur since 2023. "I am particularly fascinated by the great biodiversity of the landscapes of south-east Europe which are still unspoilt in many places. I want to play my part in preserving them. EuroNatur gives a very high priority to biodiversity and wilderness," she says.
Mareike Brix cannot use the same template for each project. It is particularly important to her to familiarise herself with the special conditions in the respective project areas and to see a project in its broader context. Above all, she provides help and advice to the EuroNatur project managers working with large carnivores, developing ideas jointly with them and providing support and guidance for more difficult tasks. The common goal is to develop suitable approaches for the protection of bears, wolves, lynx and their habitats in conjunction with the local people. However, this will only work if people are prepared to live with the large predators and allow them their own space. The large-scale networking of species conservation efforts is also key: "It is important, for example, to save the last Balkan lynxes from extinction. At the same time, however, we must also consider how the scattered lynx populations in Europe can be better connected per se. Nature conservation is not an isolated task - we must always look at the whole picture."