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Governance and budget

All Tour du Valat activities are managed by the Tour du Valat Foundation, which has been a public interest foundation since 1978.

Board of Directors

The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors, made up of three colleges – the Founders, Experts, and Full Members.

College of Founders

  • André Hoffmann, President
  • Maja Hoffmann, Vice-President
  • Vera Michalski-Hoffmann
  • Isabel Hoffmann

College of qualified personalities

  • Dr. Sylvie Goyet, associate Treasurer, Deputy Coordinator, Head of Environnemental Activities (Vienna, Austria)
  • Dr. Paule Gros, associate Secretary, Biodivearth, Co-founder, Strategic Lead (Montricher Switzerland)
  • Alexis Katsaros, MedINA, Executive director (Athens Greece)
  • Maher Majjoub, UCN Med, Regional director (Malaga, Spain
  • Thymio Papayannis, honorary member, MedWet Senior Advisor, President of MedINA

College of Full Members

  • Cécile Lenglet, Sub-prefect of Arles, representative the Home Office
  • Jean-Luc Parrain, Regional Academic Delegate for Research and Technology, representing the Ministry of Higher Education and Research
  • Sébastien Forest, PACA Regional Directorate for Environment, representing the French Ministry of Ecology
  • Patrick de Carolis, Town council of Arles, Mayor of Arles

Science and Conservation Council

The Board of Directors is supported by our Science and Conservation Council, which is made up of internationally renowned experts from various fields, who assess and validate the pertinence of our programme. Its president is a standing invitee to all Board meetings, but with no voting rights.

  • Dr. Yann Laurans – Programme Director/Conservation Director, WWF France – President
  • Dr Denis Couvet – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. Président de la FRB (Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité)
  • Dr. Ruth Cromie – Chair of Technical Committee for UNEP-Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), UK
  • Dr. Nick Davidson – Nick Davidson Environmental, United-Kingdom & Institute for Land, Water & Society,Charles Sturt University, Australia
  • Prof. Elena Kazakou – Professor, Montpellier SupAgro, France
  • Prof. Phoebe Koundouri – Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business; President-elect European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists; Director EIT Climate KIC Greece; Co-Chair United Nations SDSN Greece
  • Dr. Olivier Langrand – Executive Director, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, USA
  • Dr. Ana Rodrigues – Senior Researcher, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE-CNRS), Montpellier, France
  • André Hoffmann – President of  Tour du Valat Foundation, Switzerland; permanent guest

Budget

In 2022, Tour du Valat had an annual budget of 6,056,000 €, which is allocated as follows:

  • 48.3 % for our scientific programme (research and management projects, and joint scientific activities such as training and knowledge transfer
  • 12.6 % for the management of the Tour du Valat Estates
  • 28.2 % for ancillary services (buildings, canteen, financial and administrative services, library.)
  • 7.6 % for the general management and communications
  • 3.3 % for the buildings rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, funding comes from the following sources:

  • 46 % from the MAVA Foundation
  • 9 % from the endowment fund managed by the ProValat Foundation
  • 27 % from partnerships with public organisations
  • 10 % from partnerships with other private organisations
  • 8 % from income from the Estate.