Congratulations! German nature conservationist Thomas Findeis awarded with medal "Saxony - Land of the Peaceful Revolution”

Many years, the ambitious conservationist pushed hard for the German Green Belt to become a nature reserve. Now, his efforts have been awarded by the local government.

June 2019: Thomas Findeis during an excursion in the Green Belt Saxony with colleagues from national park Őrseg (Hungary) and nature park Goričko (Slovenia) exchanging knowledge about the butterfly Euphydryas aurinia © BUND Department Green Belt

Since 1990, when he wrote his diploma thesis on the Saxonian Green Belt, this part of the unique ecological network along the former Iron Curtain has been playing a major role in his life. Working for the nature conservation authority of the rural district of Vogtlandkreis afterwards, he and his colleague Hellmut Naderer were the driving forces in protecting the entire Saxonian Green Belt (48 km in length) as a nature reserve. Thereby, Saxony was the first German federal state with its entire part of the Green Belt being protected already in 1996: A much-cited example for nature conservationists from GO and NGO all over Germany.

Moreover, Thomas succeeded in widening the narrow strip of the inner-German Green Belt (between 80 and 200 m) by implementing nature conservation measures, creating ecological buffer zones and a comprehensive management system including a travelling shepherd. Thomas is known as a dedicated member of the European Green Belt Initiative and nature conservation specialist, always looking to exchange knowledge and share best practices with Green-Belt-colleagues. 

On 20.01.2021 he received the medal "Saxony - Land of the Peaceful Revolution” from the hands of the county commissioner. The tribute was originally to be paid by the Saxonian Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer in person at a festive event in Dresden, but this had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19-pandemic. The medal made of Meissen porcelain was issued on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the peaceful revolution and German reunification. It honors special achievements regarding the growing together of East and West Germany and in the re-establishment of the Free State of Saxony.