Professional theater actress from Naples. A polyglot. Born in Italy to a Romanian mother. Lived in 8 countries around the world: Italy, Mozambique, Morocco, France, Belgium, Germany, USA and now Romania. This is Barbara Bendandi – the Conservation Director of WWF Romania. Her theater career included a role in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and even the main role in the play After Juliet.
How did she become an environmentalist? By participating in climate negotiations with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Climate change became a major theme in her life and work. She joined the United Nations to work on the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Later, Barbara decided to see the perspective of the NGOs and joined WWF in Romania.
The work in our Northern neighbor got Barbara back to her roots. Today, she leads the program for the reintroduction of bison to Europe. The huge animals disappeared from most of the continent back in the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the 20th century, they were hunted to full extinction. Only a few specimens survived in captivity.
See Barbara at TEDxVitosha COUNTDOWN 5 on 15th October at Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia. Book your tickets here.