The EAL’s team is very heterogeneous and it includes people with different backgrounds, from conservation to business and entrepreneurship, from media & communication to security.
We all contribute with our free time and none of us takes salaries.
As a team we have the skills and the experience needed to develop global complex communication and grassroots campaigns against elephant exploitation and to challenge the ivory trade culture. Some of us are directly involved in wildlife law enforcement & prosecution and anti-poaching training activities.
We think that ambitious goals like those of EAL require a unique blend of high-level professional experience, diversified knowledge, real networking power and the capacity to engage all the stakeholders.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Andrea Crosta, Executive Director

He sits on the board of the Italian NGO “Torbiera” Zoological Society and since 1989 he has been involved on a variety of wildlife conservation and research projects in Argentina, Armenia, Italy, Estonia, Thailand, Kenya and Gabon.
 Through the “Torbiera” Zoological Society he supported the work of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) regarding anti-poaching and first aid training.
He has been an international consultant to companies and governmental agencies on high-end security services and risk management for over 15 years, a unique knowledge that he also applies to conservation and wildlife protection.
In his business life in 1998 he founded ‘Think Italy’, among the first e-commerce companies in Italy and the first case study of Microsoft Italy on e-commerce.
 He is a partner of ‘Kids Home’, a private NGO that provides support to children in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

He holds a Master Degree in Natural Sciences, a Master Degree in Business & Innovation and a BSc in Psychology.

Francesco Rocca, Director

Francesco is the founder of the ‘Torbiera’ Zoological Society, member of IUCN and among the finest private zoological foundations in Italy. Throughout the years Francesco made a name for himself as an expert on wildlife conservation and over 20 years ago he was among the first to initiate and support the conservation program on the Amur leopard in the Russian Far East.
He is the co-founder of the NGO ‘Trust The Forest’ that contributed to establish one of the first truly protected areas in Gabon, in the now Ivindo National Park. He also established an important private protected area in Northern Argentina, about 5000 ha, a biodiversity ‘hotspot’ adjacent to the Calilegua National Park.
Francesco supported several researchers all over the world who produced conservation studies on subjects such as the Andean Mountain Cat in Argentina, the Indochinese leopard in Southern Thailand, the leopard in Armenia and the large mammals in the Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal.
 From 1994 to 2000 he was member of the Italian CITES Scientific Committee.

Gilda Moratti, Director

Gilda Moratti is the eldest daughter of former Italian Minister Letizia Arnaboldi Brichetto and the magnate Gianmarco Moratti. She has worked at Sotheby’s auction house in New York and she’s the founder and great supporter of the “Squadra4zampe” association, which fights for the rights of animals.
She collaborates with the photographer-philosopher Gregory Colbert, also following him in his many trips: in his works we find the strong message of harmony and empathy between man and nature that summarize Gilda’s belief and dedication for the protection of animals.

ADVISORY BOARD

ADVISOR FOR GOVERNMENT AND NGOs RELATIONS

Dr Rozalind Reeve

Dr. Rosalind Reeve is an environmental lawyer who has been working on biodiversity and wildlife trade issues, both at an international policy level and on the ground, for 26 years. She is an adviser to Kenya Wildlife Service and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation on CITES and has conducted investigations into ivory and rhino horn trade in East and Southern Africa.
She is author of Policing International Trade in Endangered Species: the CITES Treaty and Compliance and an Associate Fellow of Chatham House. Rosalind is also a senior consultant to the Ateneo School of Government in the Philippines on REDD+, the international mechanisms for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and served on the Policy Board for the UN-REDD Program. www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/directory/70624

ADVISOR FOR WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND DEMAND REDUCTION

Pauline Verheij

Pauline is an environmental lawyer specialized in the enforcement of international wildlife law. Since 2001 she has worked to combat environmental and wildlife crime with the Dutch police and Dutch public prosecutors office consecutively.
From 2009 until 2012 she was based in Malaysia as TRAFFIC and WWF’s tiger trade programme manager where she coordinated TRAFFIC/WWF’s efforts to tackle tiger trade in Asia through anti-poaching and anti-trafficking work, policy and advocacy as well as interventions to reduce consumer demand in Asia. She is lead-author of Reduced to Skin and Bones. An analysis of tiger seizures from 11 tiger range countries (2000-2010), TRAFFIC International 2010.
Currently she has her own consultancy, EcoJust, which advises NGOs, governments and businesses on issues related to the implementation and enforcement of (international) biodiversity law (www.ecojust.eu).

ADVISERS FOR COMMUNICATION & MEDIA RELATIONS

Massimo Redaelli

Massimo Redaelli is the founder of PrimA Management & Entertainment, a branded entertainment company that advises its clients on how to best connect with consumers through fashion, entertainment, art & design. He has over 25 years of experience in the fashion & lifestyle industries.
Massimo has a personal passion for the Environment and Sustainability. He has supported David de Rothschild’s Plastiki Expedition and regularly takes part in environmental related initiatives such as Christie’s Green Auction and the Copenhagen Summit. More recently he has joined Livia and Colin Firth in their project to promote sustainable fashion: The Green Carpet Challenge.

Giuli Cordara

Up to 1999 she directed the Bellerive Animal & Nature Conservation Fund, an international NGO funded by HR Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. The scope of Bellerive was to generate awareness and preserve endangered species and their habitat throughout the world. She collaborated with many international agencies such as The Humane Society of the US, the Earth & Island Institute of San Francisco, WWF, Greenpeace, EU, UNESCO and many government agencies throughout Africa and Asia.
Giuli was able to lobby and obtain support for the passing of international laws for the protection and preservation of marine life and in particular of dolphins and whales. Such international laws and guidelines include the ‘dolphin safe’ tag all on canned tuna products.
During the nineties Giuli also produced nature programs for the German network TV ZDF, National Geographic and CBS.
She currently works exclusively for the Canadian artist Gregory Colbert on the promotion and launch of “Ashes & Snow”, the photographic exhibit that in 2005 gathered over 500,000 visitors in New York.

ADVISOR FOR AFRICAN GEOPOLITICS & ANTI-POACHING

Nir Kalron

Nir is a former Special Forces operator with years of operational experience in various fields and arenas.
He has been an active consultant and instructor since 2006 working closely with Dr. Bill Clark of INTERPOL and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). As an anti-poaching expert he collaborated with African governments and several NGOs.
Nir also organized numerous anti-poaching and first-aid training courses for the KWS rangers. He’s currently involved in anti-poaching programs in four African countries.
He is an international consultant to companies and governmental agencies on high-end security services and an expert in African security with experience as consultant to governments, private companies and media.
He is a published author of several articles in international news and research papers about security and geopolitics. He holds a degree in Law.