District honors decades of commitment by Heinz Kowalski to the Nature Conservation Advisory Board Bergneustadt resident bids farewell after over 40 years of voluntary service on the Nature Conservation Advisory Board

Oberbergischer Kreis. The Oberbergischer Kreis honors Heinz Kowalski for his long-standing contributions to the Nature Conservation Advisory Board. Since 1980, the Bergneustadt resident has been a member of the (then) Landscape Advisory Board and has chaired it since 1985. During the last meeting of the term in this configuration, Frank Herhaus, Head of Planning, Regional Development, and Environment, thanked the 80-year-old for his exceptional commitment.
The conservationist has significantly contributed to the ability of the district administration to make well-founded decisions during his long tenure on the Nature Conservation Advisory Board, decisions that "sustainably shape and protect our landscape, biodiversity, and natural resources for the future. It requires not just expertise but, above all, integrity."
Heinz Kowalski embodied this integrity remarkably, with a sense of responsibility, objectivity, and a willingness to constructively address complex challenges, said Frank Herhaus. He described the collaboration with Heinz Kowalski as "critical, yet fair; professionally skilled and simultaneously personable."
With his extensive experience, the dedicated environmentalist has led the advisory board through numerous topics, conflicts, and changes, steering a committee that has always aimed to balance the interests of the economy and nature in a reasonable manner, said Frank Herhaus: "Your decades of work have already left a mark—in the advisory board, the administration, and the landscape, our homeland, for whose protection you have worked so passionately."
Heinz Kowalski also looks back with satisfaction on his 46-year tenure with the Nature Conservation Advisory Board of the Oberbergischer Kreis: "That really is a long time, almost a lifetime's work ... but on a voluntary basis!"

In addition to Heinz Kowalski, all other departing members of the Nature Advisory Board were thanked and their commitment recognized:

Hans-Friedrich Hardt
Hans-Helmut Mertens
Baldur Neubauer
Ralf Richter
Johannes Riegel (future deputy)
Michael Schmitz
Milena Schöbel
Cornelia Söhnchen.

Der Oberbergische Kreis dankt Heinz Kowalski (7. v. l.) und den ausscheidenden Mitgliedern des Naturbeirats für ihr jahrzehntelanges Engagement. (Foto: OBK) — The Oberbergischer Kreis thanks Heinz Kowalski (7th from left) and the departing members of the Nature Conservation Advisory Board for their decades of dedication. (Photo: OBK)

The Nature Conservation Advisory Board of the Oberbergischer Kreis:

To independently represent the interests of nature and landscape, advisory boards have been established at the lower (districts and independent cities), higher (district governments), and highest nature conservation authorities (Ministry for Environment, Agriculture, Nature, and Consumer Protection).

The advisory boards are intended to participate in the protection, care, and development of the landscape and to

submit proposals and suggestions to the relevant authorities and institutions,
convey the intentions and objectives of nature conservation and landscape care to the public,
counteract misdevelopments in the landscape.

The advisory boards must be consulted before all important decisions and measures of the lower nature conservation authority.

If photos for download are provided exclusively for media representatives/press, all usage rights (cf. §§ 31 ff. UrhG) according to § 43 UrhG lie with the Oberbergischer Kreis. For reporting purposes, the media are granted a simple usage right according to § 31 Abs. 2 UrhG. When publishing, the image rights specified in the press release must be cited (corresponds to IPTC field no. 110). The additional mention of a natural person as the author according to § 13 sentence 2 UrhG is waived, as this regulation is overridden by the application of § 43 UrhG.