Ignace Schops (born 1964) is a Belgian

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

, a

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal o ...

and

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

expert. He is Director of the Belgian NGO Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland (RLKM), and was the President of the largest network on the natural heritage in Europe,

EUROPARC federation The EUROPARC Federation, also known as the "Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe", is an independent, non-governmental organisation which aims to work with national parks across Europe in enhancing protection. Founded in 1973 in Basel ...

, from 2014 until 2021; and a full member of the EU chapter of

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...

. Schops was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. ...

, better known as the Green Nobel Prize in 2008, for his contributions to the establishment of the

Hoge Kempen National Park Hoge Kempen National Park (''Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen'') is the first National Park in Flanders, Belgium. It is located in the Campine in the East of the Province of Limburg, between Genk and the river Meuse (Dutch: ''Maas'') Valley. It include ...

, the first

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

of Belgium. Later that year, he was selected as Ashoka fellow, world-leading social entrepreneur. In 2010 he became one of the eight global ambassadors for the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

countdown 2010 initiative. Besides these international awards, he got several national awards, including: Gulden Spoor – Golden Holidaymaker – Sustainable tourism ambassador. Due to his international work on biodiversity and social entrepreneurship, he became an Honorary Doctor for the

University of Hasselt Hasselt University (Dutch: ''Universiteit Hasselt or UHasselt'') is a public research university with campuses in Hasselt and Diepenbeek, Belgium. It has more than 6,700 students and 1,660 academic, administrative and technical staff (2022). The ...

in 2011. Ignace Schops is a full member of the Club of Rome, EU Chapter. In June 2013, he became part of the Climate Leadership Corps of Al Gore. In November 2013, Ignace Schops was decorated by the Belgian King Filip as Commander of the Order of the Crown. Ignace Schops is one of the initiators of the "KLIMAATZAAK" (2014), a climate court case against the Belgian Governments (4) for not fulfilling their climate obligations. In 2017, he was selected in the top 25 of most influential Belgians in the world by Charlie Magazine (13th place). Also in 2017, Ignace Schops became a member of the "Rewilding Circle" of Rewilding Europe. In 2019, his organization RLKM was awarded by the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural communi ...

with the "Golden Honorary Award" (Gouden Erepenning) for long-lasting outstanding environmental achievements. In November 2021, Ignace Schops was awarded for his achievements out of the economical sector with the prestigious "Etion Leadership Award" The success of his work is based on the (Re)connection Model, which tries to (Re)connect nature with society. This model has four principles: *(Re)connect nature with nature *(Re)connect people with nature *(Re)connect business with nature *(Re)connect policy with practice Schops is the author and co-author of several books and articles on herpetology, nature conservation, landscaping, social entrepreneurship,

sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Su ...

, etc. Related to and launched at the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 2012 he was selected to write a contribution in the book Green Growth and travelism, Letters from leaders. Schops is often asked as a keynote speaker for international conferences. He gave presentations at: Earth Summit Rio +20 – Brazil; World Conservation Congress (WCC) IUCN Jeju, South Korea; Change nation in Ireland; World Exhibition Shanghai in China; World Nature Summit –

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

, World Nature Summit, Nagoya, Japan; World Congress Ashoka, Paris on social entrepreneurship; International Conferences at EU level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schops, Ignace 1964 births Living people Belgian conservationists Place of birth missing (living people) Goldman Environmental Prize awardees Ashoka Fellows