ERF update: Welcoming Lenke Bálint as Executive Director

The Ecological Restoration Fund is pleased to be welcoming Lenke Bálint as Executive Director. Lenke brings over 13 years of experience in developing and strengthening biodiversity conservation organisations in Eastern and Southern Europe, Central Asia, the Mediterranean, West Africa and the Pacific. She has most recently worked as Head of Partnership, Communities and Capacity Development at BirdLife International, leading several global programmes focused on i) strengthening the conservation effectiveness of civil society organisations and local communities, ii) demonstrating the linkages between biodiversity, well-being and human rights and iii) monitoring and evaluating the impact of conservation organisations on nature and people.

With an academic background in natural resource management, Lenke has an Mphil in Conservation Leadership and an MSt in Social Innovation, both from the University of Cambridge. She is a Fellow of the Intergovernmental Science – Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as well as a Kinship Conservation Fellow.

Her role will involve supporting the Chair and  Board of Trustees in strategic planning and governance and she will be responsible for overseeing all of ERF’s grants, programmes and activities. Lenke will also lead an expanding team which currently includes Programme Director James Byrne. As we look ahead, ERF remains committed to expanding our reach, deepening our impact, and confronting emerging environmental challenges with resilience and determination. By working closely with partners, we will continue to catalyse action to restore our planet’s precious ecosystems for future generations.

Environmental challenges require sustained, long-term efforts to address effectively, and while we’re proud of our success to date, we recognise there is still much further to go. Welcoming Lenke as ERF’s Executive Director could not come at a more opportune moment as we approach the mid-point of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.