Pedro Prata

Team leader 

Pedro Prata was born in 1982 and grew up in a family farm in the central mountains of Portugal. Since childhood, he has been wandering through the grassland plateaus, venturing into the thick forests or simply sunbathing in the deep canyons of the rivers. It made him realise that there is a complex web of relations which wild nature so fruitfully shows in its many different aspects. He is passionate for nature in all its extent and a lover of outdoor sports. Pursuing this curiosity led him to an MSC in biology in the University of Lisbon, where he mostly researched the interactions between plants and fungi.

Starting an international career in 2005, he did an MSc in ecology and evolution at the Universiteit van Amsterdam which led to his research on coral reef recovery after storm damage in Curaçao, in the Caribbean. Until 2010, he lived and was involved in different projects in Brazil and the United States, and finally came back to Europe. Near his hometown there was an organisation called ATN that represented the rewilding initiative with an innovative project in Faia Brava. Convinced that this was a plausible strategy to deal with the high levels of land abandonment that raged for decades in the country’s interior, he is now taking responsibility to develop this project in a wider area, to cover the whole Côa river basin that stretches as a natural wildlife corridor and that must be carefully managed so that it can bloom in diversity, using the rewilding strategy as the model to achieve these goals.

Marta Cálix

Project Manager 

Marta Cálix was born in 1991 in Lisbon and has been interested in nature (and birds in particular) from a young age. Having studied evolutionary and developmental biology at the University of Lisbon, Marta decided to pursue an MSc in Wildlife Management and Conservation at the University of Reading in the UK. As a keen birdwatcher and ornithologist Marta has participated in several expeditions with Operation Wallacea, studying the avifauna of Guyana and Honduras, and teaching volunteers and students about the importance of long-term biodiversity monitoring schemes.

Her passion for the conservation of biodiversity led her to work at the IUCN European Regional Office in Brussels, where she participated in the compilation of several European Red Lists of Threatened Species. While at IUCN, Marta became increasingly interested in the linkages between business and biodiversity conservation, especially the potential for sustainable business models to support conservation work. This new interest led her to pursue an MBA at IE Business School in Madrid. As a result, Marta became interested in the rewilding movement in Europe, which is pioneering nature-based enterprises as part of large-scale rewilding initiatives and recently started working for Rewilding Portugal as a project manager.

Sara Aliácar

Conservation Officer

Sara Casado Aliácar was born in 1989 in Alcalá de Henares, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Spain. Passionate about living things and with the firm conviction of contributing to a better world for humans and nature, Sara decided to study a Bachelor and MSc in Environmental Sciences in her hometown. During her studies she had the opportunity of participating in projects focused on habitat restoration, environmental education and cooperation in Spain and Nicaragua, where she developed an increasing interest in nature conservation and biodiversity. She dived deeper into that path through a course in forest ecology in the University of Umeå in 2012 and an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation in the University of Leeds in 2016.

In 2013 and 2014 she worked as a wolf monitoring technician in the LIFE MEDWOLF conservation project in Portugal. With this experience, she developed an increasing interest in carnivores, human-wildlife coexistence, animal welfare and rewilding. She also felt fascinated by the Côa Valley and rural life, so naturally she got involved with the local NGO ATNatureza in 2016, where she worked for two years as Rewilding Officer and Project Manager of LIFE Landowners Club for the Conservation of Western Iberia in the private protected area of Faia Brava.

In 2019, she entered the team of Rewilding Portugal enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue working in the Côa Valley and at a broader scale, based on a rewilding strategy.

Kayte Phillips

Finance Officer

Kayte Phillips was born in 1974 in Shropshire, England and then moved to Wales in 1999, where she raised her children and learned to speak Welsh.

With a background in finance and management, Kayte is a qualified accountant and ran a small accountancy practice spending many years working within the voluntary arts sector in Mid Wales.

Kayte has recently relocated to Central Portugal to pursue her passion for music, language and permaculture, and brings over 15 years of financial management experience to the rewilding Portugal team.

Fernando Teixeira

Communication Officer

Fernando Teixeira is 24 years old and was born in Fundão, and therefore knows quite well the Western Iberia region. He began his career as a journalist at a very young age, and still retains these duties, including the professional card.

He recently completed his law degree at the Faculty of Law of the Universidade do Porto, and is now a Master’s student in Management at UBI.

He has experience in several local and reference journals, having previously been director of a university newspaper and published two books of his own.

His dynamic and proactive attitude towards the media will be his focus as a Communication Officer.

André Couto

Field Officer

André Couto was born in 1990 in the center of Portugal, where he grew up exploring some of the oldest protected areas in the country, and helping with the traditional farming practiced by his family. Years later, his interest in zoology led to a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Applied Ecology at the University of Aveiro. During his studies, his passion for amphibians and reptiles took him to places like the brazilian Amazon or the mayan jungle of Calakmul. The contact with these truly wild and diverse places fueled his will to work in nature conservation and contribute to the restoration of natural landscapes in Europe.

In 2015, back in Portugal for his master’s thesis, he had the opportunity to live and work in Montesinho Natural Park, experiencing one of the most complete ecosystems in the country, with wolves and large herbivores, which evidenced the importance of natural processes and rewilding in creating opportunities for the environment and people. Between 2016 and 2018 he applied this philosophy as a conservation officer for the municipality of Lousada, in northwestern Portugal, where he worked with several groups of vertebrates, managing priority habitats for threathened species and collaborating in the creation of local protected areas.

André happily joined the Rewilding Portugal team in 2019, hoping to contribute to a wilder future in the Côa Valley and a better coexistence between man and nature.

Daniel Veríssimo

Entreprise Officer

Miguel Pontes

Surveillance Team

Miguel Pontes was born in 1990 in Porto, where he grew up in proximity to the sun and nature.

Since he was young he has been passionate about mountaineering and camping, having spent a large part of his free time between surfing on the northern beaches and hiking in the Peneda-Gerês National Park.

He had professional experience in several areas, from mechatronics to education, including health and human care.

After living seven years in England, where he discovered the importance of conservation through participation in projects developed by NGOs, he decided to return to Portugal to explore the historic and rural traditions of the centre region of Portugal, and make his contribution to the environment.

Miguel joined the Rewilding Portugal team in 2020, with the aim of contributing to the preservation of biodiversity and for a more sustainable coexistence.

Gonçalo Matos

Surveillance Team

Gonçalo Martins de Matos was born in Guarda in 1996, and from a very young age has accompanied his father in the management of cattle in Quinta do Tabalião, which aroused his interest to, at the academic level, embark on the Higher Technical Course in Biological Agricultural Production and attending the Degree in Agricultural Engineering.

His interest in the conservation and protection of wild fauna and flora comes from his great passion for hunting, a tradition that has existed in the family for several generations, which led him to discover a large part of the Iberian territory on hunting days. The slopes of the Côa are quite familiar to him due to the numerous partridge and woodcock hunts carried out there and the higher hunting level in the correction of densities in the international Tagus area.

During the closed seasons, it develops activities to preserve key species, providing them with food, water and improving habitats in order to promote their reproduction. He joined the Rewilding Portugal team in order to combine his passion for nature with his professional activity.

Pedro Ribeiro

Field Officer

Pedro Ribeiro was born in 1995 in the district of Setúbal. From an early age he became interested in wildlife and spent hundreds of hours watching wildlife documentaries.

He entered the University of Évora and graduated in Animal Science and Technology doing his final internship, in 2016, in a small Zoo and Wild Bird Hospital in England. A passion for nature conservation led him to take a Masters degree in Conservation Biology in the same city.

During his academic career, he became interested in ornithology, having participated in numerous national bird censuses, and has several years of experience as a ringer and as nature guide.

In 2021, he joined Rewilding Portugal’s  team with the intention of contributing to the conservation of scavenger birds in Portugal and to help in the rewilding of the Greater Côa Valley, restoring the stability and maturity of wild ecosystems, benefiting the entire food chain.

Marta Vieira

Veterinarian

Marta Vieira was born in 1983 in Northern Portugal. She has always had contact with animals and practiced nature activities such as hiking or mountain biking. Her relationship with domestic animals led her to pursue a master’s degree in veterinary medicine at the University of Lisbon. After several years working in a companion animal clinic, she completed a Masters in Clinical Ethology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and dedicated herself to consulting on animal behavior with the aim of improving the relationship between animals and their families.

With her work at Rewilding Portugal, she seeks to contribute to the conservation of Nature and the improvement of biodiversity, promoting animal and human well-being.

Deli Saavedra

Rewilding Area Coordinator

Laurien Holtjer

Head of Communications

Frans Schepers

Managing Director, Executive Board Member

Frans Schepers is a co-founder and Managing Director of Rewilding Europe. He started loving nature as a teenager, was always out in the field and decided to start a career in conservation. In 1985, he graduated in forestry, land – and water management after which he took various positions in nature conservation, starting in Dutch government. He became responsible for the design of one of the largest river restoration projects in the country, reshaping 50 km of the transboundary river Meuse. From 2000-2014 he worked at WWF Netherlands, responsible for international conservation programmes.

During his professional career, which now spans over 30 years, he specialised in rewilding large landscapes (in particular in Africa, Europe and Central Asia), where wild nature and wildlife can bounce back and where people can enjoy and benefit. Many of the experiences he build up from across the world have been used to design and develop Rewilding Europe to what it is today.

As the Managing Director of Rewilding Europe since 2011, he is leading a central team of now 25 people based in different European countries. Currently, eight large landscapes are becoming rewilding icons for Europe, where wild nature with abundant wildlife provide new socio- economic opportunities at landscape scale.

Under his leadership Rewilding Europe has become a frontrunner and pioneer initiative, taking both a demonstrating and a catalysing role on rewilding as a new conservation narrative for Europe. A number of innovative tools were developed to roll out and scale up rewilding, such as Rewilding Europe Capital (Europe’s first conservation enterprise loan facility), the European Safari Company (a business to support nature-based tourism) and the European Rewilding Network (a network of now 71 practical rewilding initiatives in 27 different countries).

Starting from scratch in 2011, Rewilding Europe has now become a well respected initiative, using an entrepreneurial approach delivering practical rewilding at scale, working with dedicated rewilding entities and parters across Europe.

Frans Schepers is a keen birdwatcher and has travelled numerous countries around the world and participated in various ornithological expeditions, in particular to the Mediterranean, Middle East and West Africa. Having travelled in Africa a lot, he is still very connected to Zambia, a country he loves and where he is a Trustee of the Zambian Carnivore Programme. In 2010, he wrote a book with travel stories about his work for WWF, called ‘Van Doejong tot Argali’ (in Dutch).

Dana Bezdíčková

LIFE Project Officer

Dana, originally from Prague, Czech Republic, has lived in the Netherlands for more than 25 years. She started her career in the area of science policies, after completing her MSc degree in biology at Radboud University Nijmegen, with research specialisms in ethology, animal ecology and behavioural physiology. She did additional courses on general management, policy and consultancy, animal science, inventories of flora and fauna, nature guiding and communication. 

Previously, Dana worked at one of the largest Dutch animal welfare charities – AAP, focusing on wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, and reaching out at public policy level. There she fulfilled various positions: as a manager, policy and public affairs advisor and external representative. She contributed significantly to the professionalisation of the organisation. For AAP Dana also set up and managed a large EU youth volunteer programme, which introduced her to the opportunities of EU funding. 

Dana has a broad insight and experience in the green NGO–sector at an international level and is happy to have joined Rewilding Europe, in early 2016. She can employ her love and passion for nature, her skills and experience to support Rewilding Europe in different fields in an international context. As a member of Rewilding Europe’s Central Team, Dana is supporting the implementation and management of Rewilding Europe’s LIFE- and Interreg projects. 

Jelle Harms

GIS Data Manager

Growing up in Wageningen, The Netherlands, there was always plenty of nature and outdoor activities around. But it was only during his post school travels to Australia and New Zealand that Jelle became overwhelmed by both nature’s beauty as well as its problematic future and ecological disasters, which drove him to seek a professional future in this direction.

During his study of Spatial Ecology at the University of Amsterdam he discovered the power of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in an early stage. The fascination for maps combined with a passion for herpetofauna brought him in contact with Natural Resource Management at ITC, Enschede. Here he explored the world of species distribution modelling using a combination of satellite imagery and ground data of the sand lizards on the Wadden islands and Erhard’s wall lizard at Crete, Greece. At the end of his study Jelle returned to Wageningen University for his Msc. thesis on grazing ecology of large herbivores in South Africa.

Shortly after volunteering for Rewilding Europe for 3 months where he did a short case study on a habitat model for brown bears in the Croatian Velebit Mountains, he joined the Central Team as the GIS Data Manager.

Helena Newell

Enterprise Manager

Currently based in London, Helena Newell is part of the Conservation Capital team working as the business and finance partners of the Rewilding Europe initiative. Conservation Capital focuses exclusively on linking private sector business and investment finance with global biodiversity conservation and in the last 5 years has raised and structured over 200 million Euros of private investment finance for conservation-based businesses across a diverse range of industry sectors. Helena is Enterprise Manager for Rewilding Europe and is tasked with identifying and supporting conservation enterprises, and investment management of Rewilding Europe Capital. Helena recently completed an MSc in Conservation Science at Imperial College London and undertook her thesis on natural capital accounting in Uganda. Previously, Helena worked at PwC for 2 years in strategy consulting and merger and acquisition advisory. In 2014 she graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge with a BA in Economics.

Violeta Giurgi

Finance and Operations Manager

Violeta grew up in a small village somewhere between the beautiful green hills of Maramures, Romania. Having been surrounded by overwhelming nature is the origin of her love for authentic nature. She really experienced and saw how people can be part of this nature without disturbing it too much. Furthermore she realized that without nature mankind eventually would be lost and protecting this nature is one of the biggest and most important challenges we are facing today. Violeta works as a Financial Officer to keep a clear view on the available financial resources to guarantee maximum efficiency in using them for all projects Rewilding Europe is involved in.

Floor Peters

Finance & Operations Officer

Floor Peters joined Rewilding Europe in June 2019 as a member of the Central Team. Providing much-needed support, her focus is project administration and finance.

Born in 1985, she grew up in the southern Dutch province of Limburg, which borders Belgium and Germany.  Here she developed a passion for nature, using much of her spare time to explore the National Park De Maasduinen.

Floor is a well-seasoned traveller. Specialising in SME business development at Wageningen University, she lived for a while in the Tanzanian city of Arusha. Continuing her education with an MSc in International Development, she also carried out research on rural households in Mozambique. Camping in tiny villages, here she quickly fell in love with the spectacular local nature and hospitable locals. She then went on to work for the Rainforest Alliance, travelling frequently to Latin America to support her regional colleagues in the fields of HR, finance, project administration and legal affairs.

A rewilding enthusiast, Floor still loves walking in nature, and regularly goes hiking and camping – her trips to Argentina, Tanzania, Canada and Spain have been a particular highlight. Living in a relatively flat country, she is especially keen on the sight of mountains and small mountain villages! Now that she is living in Nijmegen, Floor frequently visits the Ooijpolder Nature Reserve, where she enjoys the stunning lakeside views and spotting herds of large grazing animals.

Ana Lino

Molecular Biologist

Ana Lino is a biologist and her main research interests are related to molecular ecology and population genetics of mammals for the monitoring, management, and conservation of their populations. During her PhD Ana tried to understand how forest loss and fragmentation affect different dimensions of diversity (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, and genetic) using the neotropical bats as a model group. Currently, Ana is a research fellow at the University of Aveiro and the main objective of her work is the genetic characterization and monitoring of Iberian carnivores. Her role in the LIFE WolFlux project is to contribute to the monitoring of the Iberian wolf south of the Douro river using molecular techniques.

Carlos Fonseca

Biologist/Team Leader

Carlos Fonseca, biologist, is currently Chief Technology Officer of the ForestWISE – Collaborative Laboratory for Integrated Forest & Fire Management and Invited Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Department of Biology of the University of Aveiro. He is interested in scientific topics related to the management and conservation of wildlife and natural resources. He is coordinator of the Wildlife Research Unit of the Department of Biology at the University of Aveiro, developing research work in Portugal and other European countries as well as in Brazil, Mozambique, Paraguay, Cape Verde, Bolivia, etc. In the LIFE WolFlux project, Carlos Fonseca is the coordinator of the University of Aveiro team.

Eduardo Ferreira

Molecular Biologist

Eduardo Ferreira is an ecologist with a major focus on wildlife and biodiversity conservation and management. Eduardo has a vast experience on the use of molecular genetic tools for the study of wildlife species, namely in the non-invasive monitoring of mammalian carnivore species. Besides mammals, amphibians and reptiles are relevant targets of his research, aiming to understand the impact of human activities on biodiversity. He is also interested in outreach and awareness raising strategies and is currently a researcher at the University of Aveiro. In the LIFE WolFlux project, Eduardo is mostly focused on wolf monitoring through non-invasive sampling methods, at the early and late stages of the project.

Joana Fernandes

Molecular Biologist

Joana Fernandes is a biologist focused on wildlife and human coexistence as a key factor in wildlife and biodiversity conservation and management. In recent years, she has deepened her knowledge of molecular genetic tools, namely in non-invasive monitoring of mammalian carnivore and ungulate species and is currently a research fellow at the University of Aveiro. Besides mammals, Joana is interested in amphibians and reptiles, and a particular interest in understanding the challenges and impacts human activities pose for biodiversity. In the LIFE WolFlux project, Joana has an active role in wolf monitoring through non-invasive sampling methods.

João Carvalho

Biologist

João Carvalho, biologist, has a wide variety of research interests that include the dynamics of ecosystems and populations, the spatial and phenotypic response of species and populations to global changes and the management and conservation of natural resources. Geographical information systems and statistics have been used by João as a complementary and important research tool. He recognizes the increasing importance of citizen science in biodiversity conservation. In the LIFE WolFlux project, João plays an active role in some tasks, namely, in determining the distribution and density of wild ungulate populations throughout the study area.

Mariana Rossa

Biologist

Mariana Rossa is a biologist and has a particular interest in ecosystem and populations dynamics with focus on the conservation and management of wildlife. Mariana considers the study of animal behaviour essential to the understanding of intra- and interspecific relationships that characterize a trophic web. Mariana has experience in monitoring wolves, their wild prey and behavioural and ecological relationships. Her contribution to the LIFE WolFlux project includes the assessment of the distribution and density of wild ungulates and the study of the feeding ecology of the Iberian wolf in the project area.

Raquel Martins

Biologist

Raquel Martins is a biologist with a particular interest in the management and conservation of large carnivores in humanized landscapes. In the past few years, Raquel has been focusing on Human-Wildlife interactions and human tolerance towards large carnivores as a way of improving coexistence between humans and wildlife. On the LIFE WolFlux project, Raquel’s work consists in assessing the distribution and density estimation of wild ungulate, wolves’ natural prey, south of Douro river.

Rita T. Torres

Biologist

Rita T. Torres, biologist and researcher at the University of Aveiro, uses space ecology to understand how species respond to global changes and their dynamics at ecosystem level. She is particularly interested in the biology of reintroductions and how they can be used as tools for restoring ecosystem functions and processes. In recent years, she has been trying to understand the role of wild ungulates as role models for unraveling the main challenges of infectious diseases. In the LIFE WolFlux project, her role is mainly related to the tasks aimed at increasing the availability of wild prey for the Iberian wolf. Namely in determining the distribution and density of wild ungulates in the project area, and subsequently in the reintroduction of roe deer.

Duarte Cadete

Biologist

Duarte Cadete, a biologist from the University of Lisbon where he was born, started in 2002 working with the Iberian wolf and its ecosystem in Beira Alta, having since then collaborated in several research and conservation projects north and south of the Douro river, involving the wolf and several species of fauna, also passing through the Italian alpine border. He is currently responsible for the Zoo Logical and Dear Wolf organizations. Interested in Behavioral Ecology, Ecology and Coexistence of Mammals in Humanized Environments, Evolutionary Ecology, Wild and Domestic Canids, Application of non-invasive methodologies for monitoring and conservation of fauna. A pioneer in Portugal and for several years responsible for the canine team for the detection of biological samples of the Iberian wolf, having participated in several projects with his faithful companion Alice. Collaborates with several Research Centers. It shares many of its interests and experiences through training, awareness and ethical and responsible tourism actions.

Sara Pinto

Biologist

Sara Pinto has a degree in Biology from the University of Aveiro. During the university period, she coordinated the Bionucleo of the Academic Association of the University of Aveiro. Since 2008 she has collaborated and planned several projects for the conservation and research of the Iberian wolf in Portugal, specifically in the region south of the Douro River and in the Northeast of Transmontano. She is also co-author of the book “Estrela – A Tradição do Lobo”, several written communications and presented at technical congresses, as well as documents on the legal protection of large carnivores. She was co-founder of the NGO Zoo Logical and of the company “Dear Wolf, Lda” which is dedicated to the interpretation of nature walks and the observation of wildlife in the Northeast of Transmontano. Since 2018 it has also collaborated with AEPGA and Palombar (both NGOs). She is interested in ecology, nature conservation, animal welfare and environmental education.