Nature Heritage is a avant-garde and innovative strategic environmental consultancy

● specialising in conservation of natural heritage and cultural heritage
● generating, analysing and publishing knowledge
● linking scientific knowledge with society and the corporate world
● providing strategic advice and consultancy services in environmental matters

to support people and nature long-term and sustainably

we work for professionals, companies, university and research institutes, government organisations, NGOs and the public

Our services

We are passionate about biodiversity and it's interaction with human culture.

We are proud of the quality of our services, our achievements and the difference we have made for conservation and people throughout our projects.

Our inspirations

our team and projects

Our dedicated team has accomplished a broad spectrum of projects since our launch.

Our team

Our projects

There is so much more than a few paragraphs can describe, but there is always so much out there that we still don't know. We are happy to contribute increasing that knowledge and to apply it.

Contact us

Services

Our interdisciplinary toolbox in research and capacity building

We strongly believe in collaborative, interdisciplinary and holistic approaches. Our toolbox includes a broad range if technical and scientific skills

Field & Laboratory work

● ecological field work
● molecular genetics and molecular ecology
● ethnographic research

Data analysis, project management & publishing

● data analysis including statistics and GIS
● project management from grant application to reporting
● publishing in peer-reviewed journals and reporting

Training & advising

● training and capacity building
● one-to-one coaching and mentoring
● advising for environmental issues and conservation

Highlights

Our services overlap with the services offered by many colleagues and other national and international consultancies in the field. Over the last years, we have focussed on teaching and capacity building, and on data analysis, reporting and publishing. We are proud of these unique selling points, UPS, as they set us apart.

Data analysis, reporting and publishing

Many institutions, whether government departments, companies, research institutes or NGOs, have collected enormous amounts of data supporting conservation. Often, these data are shelved and never published.  We help them to analyse these data and publish them, thus making these vital data available for the benefit of the conservation community.

 

Collaborative, interdisciplinary and holistic research

Our core team builds strong, interdisciplinary teams for each task at hand. We harness expertise and experience of specialist experts whenever a project needs it.

Our publication record speaks for itself.

 

Coaching, training, teaching and capacity building

We must engage all sectors of society to change global development and achieve conservation of biological and cultural diversity. High quality training is the entrance ticket to a professional future and to provide effective and efficient conservation action. We provide providing personalised, bespoke coaching, training, teaching and capacity building for academics and non-academics at all levels.

Why working with us?

Conservation is not only for scientists or a lifestyle choice for those who can afford it …

… it is the responsibility of every single human being.

EXPERTISE

Successful biodiversity conservation needs passionate and competent teams of experts.

Our expertise in natural sciences is broad ranging from ecology to molecular genetics. Our track record, as evidenced by our publications and books, speaks for itself.

Our social sciences expertise goes from ethnographic research to documentary filmmaking, taking advantage of all the new media platforms currently available.

HARNESS THE STRENGTH OF BESPOKE, EXPERIENCED TEAMS

We assemble bespoke, experienced teams of subject specialists with proven track records as appropriate for each project.

COST EFFICIENCY

Because Nature Heritage does not generate any company profits as  a consultancy, we can offer competitive prices which include cost for field or lab work and salaries.

EXPERIENCE: ENVIRONMENTAL + CULTURAL SETTINGS

We have worked in all sort of climates and lived in very different cultures. From the cold rainforest of the south of Chile, the Namibian desert, the mountains of China, the tropical rainforests of Africa to the Caribbean to name some of the projects where our team members have been involved.

    • Africa (Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo)
    • Asia (China)
    • Europe (Croatia, Germany, UK)
    • South America and the Caribbean (Chile, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia)
EXPERIENCE: ACADEMIC + APPLIED SCIENCES

Our core team around Stephan (director) and Julia (associate) have each more than 30 years of experience in different working environment, including

EXPERIENCE: capacity building

We have extensively coaches, taught and tutored

    • university graduate and post-graduate students and post-docs as numerous universities,
    • non-academic staff of government institutions, companies and NGOs,
    • conservation professionals,
    • business professionals.

Julia established and was the director of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's International Training Centre which specialised in training conservation professionals from around the world either in Jersey or on location.

OUTSOURCE SPECIALISED TASKS

Nature Heritage not only manages large complex projects but we can fulfil specialised tasks for academic, governmental and non-governmental organisations and other consultancies. For example, we can analyse data and prepare reports and publications collected by other organisations who lack the time or capacity for these tasks.

About

We help you in your mission to support cultural heritage and natural heritage - people and nature - long-term and sustainably by providing evidence-based expertise.

We believe that creativity, innovation,  sound data, strategic partnerships and team building are crucial to achieve our goals in environmental and biological conservation.

We embrace new technologies to offer the best to our clients, in order to protect, safeguard, and restore biodiversity and human culture.

We assemble bespoke, experienced teams of subject specialists with proven track records as appropriate for each project.

Nature Heritage was co-launched in 2004 as an environmental consultancy by Dr Stephan M Funk FRSB and Daniela Rusowsky F. (now director of the audio-visual company Puerto Almendral in Valparaiso, Chile) and is led since 2018 by Stephan.

Dedicated to the not-for-profit approach

As a consultancy, we are not generating any profit.
We believe in living wages for our project collaborators, partners and staff.
Therefore, we can offer competitive prices for any project.

Get actively involved in conservation: learn, sponsor  or volunteer

Get training & coaching

Conservation is not about remote and fancy projects, it is about all of us. You can contribute by providing an environmental training course for your members of staff or by getting personally  tailored environmental awareness coaching sessions. From a single masterclass to an intensive course, everybody has something to learn to actively make a change to build a better future.

Sponsor

Contact us to discuss suitable projects for sponsoring

Volunteer

The conservation work could not be achieved without the support of thousands of volunteers from all around the world. Citizen science is now a vital contributor to research and applied conservation. If you are willing to participate in a conservation organisation, come and join us in our mission.

Contact us

Collaborate or join the team

Today, co-operation and strategic partnerships are essential for efficient and effective work. We believe in win-win. We have successfully collaborated with many institutions and experts in their fields.

If you like to collaborate or join our team, we are more than happy to discuss avenues forward. Please contact us and and join us in our mission.

Strategic alliances with other consultancies

Nature Heritage forms strategic alliances with other consultancies. In today's environmental and economic situation, alliances are powerful to harness complementary expertise and services.

Our strategic alliances

Our inspiration

We always respect, consider and incorporate the local ecological environment and cultural heritage as fundamental pillars of our work.

Our inspirations

Team

Introducing your expert team

Nature Heritage assembles, under the lead of Stephan, bespoke, experienced teams of complementary subject specialists with proven track records as appropriate for each project. From small projects with single species or data analysis to larger complex projects we provide a thorough and professional service to meet the individual needs of or clients or project partners.

Stephan Michael Funk FRSB

Director Nature Heritage
Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, UK
PhD in Biology, Universität des Saarlandes, Germany
MSc in Zoology, Genetics & Electrical Engineering, Universität des Saarlandes, Germany
MSc in Ecology and Management of Natural Resources, University of Bristol, UK
Diplom as Auditor for Quality Management and Environmental Management
Certificate as EU Fundraiser

I am a co-founder and, since 2018, sole director of Nature Heritage. My love of the wild is at the heart of my career.

Before co-founding Nature Heritage, I have worked on various aspects of conservation science and practice, ranging from ecological research on rural and urban foxes to conservation science applying ecological and molecular tools. I worked fo Bristol University and the Insitute of Zoology, the research branch of the Zoological Society of London, which is an NGO but has been academically affiliated during my time there with University College of London (UCL) and Cambridge University.

Since 2004, I have worked worked for Nature Heritage either full time or part time, pending on the number of projects, alongside appointments at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey, Universidad de Puerto Rico, and UCT and the Universidad de la Frontera in Chile. I am elected fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).

My experience has breadth and depth as witnessed by the range of basic and applied topics. I develop it through my intellectual curiosity and academic “nosiness”. I am a passionate and well-rounded academic and applied scientist enthusiastic and experienced in

● evidence-based conservation of biodiversity and human and wildlife health
● interdisciplinary & collaborative research in ecology, genetics & conservation biology
● transmitting knowledge and enthusiasm to university students & the general public
● providing specialist advisory, training and coaching services for applied commerce & industry
● information weaving, data analysis, presentation and publication  

Julia E Fa

Associate
D.Phil., University of Oxford, UK
B.Sc. (Hons.) in Zoology, University College, Cardiff, Wales, UK

With more than 30 years’ experience in academia and research, her work embraces biology, economics, anthropology, and development issues. She has led projects in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Julia is currently Professor of Biodiversity and Human Development at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Senior Research Associate at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia.