Alexander Held, (42, married, 2 Children, 1 dog) holds MSc in Forest Science from Freiburg University, Germany. His forestry education started already at a young age with his Forester-Grandfather in the forest districts of Welden and Zusmarshausen near Augsburg. After university Alex worked at the Fire Ecology working group of the Max-Planck Society (GFMC) .

He worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Center GFMC in Europe and southern Africa. He joined the European Forest Institute EFI in 2012. At the EFI, Alex works on the establishment of the European Forest Risk Facility, where the exchange of expertise and knowledge, mutual assistance and cooperation in Europe is the tool to create more resilient landscapes. He was also involved in the “Integrate” projects at EFI, dealing with disturbance and biodiversity in managed forests. His interest and expertise is in fire, silviculture and deer management.

He serves in the Hunting Advisory Board of the district “Breisgau Hochschwarzwald” to represent the ÖJV (ecological hunting association). In addition, Alex is coordinating the hunting education of the Freiburg Hunting Association.

The ProSilva principles and network are great examples for resilient forestry in a changing world and are convenient to meet the challanges of climate change and growing social demands for ecosystem services.