Michael Succow Stiftung

Qui sommes-nous

The Michael Succow Foundation was established in 1999 as the first charitable conservation foundation under the Civil Code in the new federal states of Germany. Preserve and sustain the ecological balance – to ensure the future of human society. This is the motto under which the Michael Succow Foundation operates.
The Michael Succow Foundation is an operational foundation on the national and international level.

Nature represents the basis of human life. Therefore it is our main goal to counteract the anthropogenic global changes and the destruction of nature. We need to give nature time and space to recover and rebuilt its strength. We are working towards the securing and conservation of still intact, mostly pristine natural habitats and to establish a sustainable use regime in areas that are already used and have been altered by human influence. There needs to be a transition from an economic growth model to a societal model of ecologically sound development and cultivation in harmony with nature.

It is our philosophy to implement and live up to this statement with our work, our projects and lectures, as well as the education of scientists.

Projects
A large number of the international projects of the Michael Succow Foundation are carried out in the transformational countries of the former Eastern bloc. On location, we work in close co-operation with strong partners, i.e., the National Institute for Deserts, Flora and Fauna in Turkmenistan or the Ecological-Historical Museum at Wystiter Lake in Kaliningrad.
Our work in Germany concentrates on the development of wilderness areas – allowing nature to run its course free of any human influence. In these foundation-owned areas, educational trails allow visitors to experience and study the dynamic processes of nature as they occur.

• Wild Germany: Wilderness Protection in Germany – Abandonment of Land Use
• Peatland and Climate Protection: Projects of peatland conservation and restoration, sustainable use of wet peatlands in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, but in Germany (Brandenburg) too.
• Development of Protected Areas: Worldwide, protected areas have already become the backbone of the efforts to preserve biodiversity and to ensure the functionality of ecosystems. Protected areas in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kaliningrad and Ethiopia.
• Research and Capacity Building: Inventories, the collection of basic data, and the development of new methodologies. We impart knowledge and know-how in the field of practical nature conservation by organizing seminars, workshops and excursions. Addionally, the Eva-Kleinn-Scholarship and further donors enable us to award yearly scholarships to students of the international master programme "Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation" in Greifswald.

Sebastian Schmidt is CEO of Michael Succow Foundation.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.