Gerald Mader was the President of NFI from 1987 until 1996. During his presidency, NFI moved back to Austria and the Berlin Wall fell. Subsequently, Naturefriends from Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia and the former GDR became part of our movement. In addition, the first contacts to Naturefriends from Senegal were established while he was President and Naturefriends Senegal were admitted as the first African member organisation in 1996.  Gerald Mader was especially involved in peace work – he set up the renowned international Peace University of Schlaining.

An opinion piece by Manfred Pils, President of Naturefriends International 

In the second half of February, Mamadou Mbodji, Vice-President of NFI and member of the Steering Group of the Naturefriends Climate Fund, visited Guinea in order to take part in the implementation of NFI’s current Climate Fund project, which aims to promote improved stoves in three rural municipalities in the Mount Nimba Biosphere Reserve.

In May 2019, EU citizens will have the chance to vote for a greener, healthier and fairer Europe. The Green 10 – a network of the ten largest European environmental NGOS amongst them NFI – show how a vote for a greener and healthier Europe could lead to major wins for people and the planet. A Europe that puts people and our planet first will also be prepared to address the challenges of migration, security and competitiveness. Help share our call to EU leaders ahead of 2019! @Europarl_EN elections

03/05/2019
Tourism needs to be fundamentally rethought, demand Naturefriends International before the opening of the ITB in Berlin.

On the international Human Rights Day on December 10, Naturefriends International appeals to the tourism industry to increase the commitment to human rights.

On December 10, 1948, the UN general assembly agreed to Resolution 217 A, the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Today, 70 years later, human rights are still being violated in many parts of the world – also in the tourism industry.

Starting from 15 Euro, you can support projects from the Naturefriends Climate Fund in Africa while giving a meaningful present this Christmas.

After this really hot summer, we are hoping for a nice fall with many perfect hiking days. Tired of your usual routes? Ready for a challenge? The last few weeks we presented 10 “Naturefriends’ Treasured Trails” on Facebook! In our tourism_LOG you now find an overview of all trails. Thanks to everyone who sent in their favourite #TreasuredTrails – quite the collection! 

Being strong together – this is the motto of Naturefriends Austria and „Children of the Mountain“ when they continuously work together to rebuild schools and kindergartens in the Nepalese Region Tandrang. A trekking tour marks the beginning of a new project.