Ingwald Gschwandtl was the Head of Forest Policy and Forest Information for the Federal Government of Austria for over 20 years, with a strong focus on international policy. Since his retirement in 2020 he has been active as a private consultant. Among other international positions, he was Vice-President of the 11th World Forestry Congress and Vice-Chairman of the 9th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF).
He was the Leader of the FAO-UNECE Forest Communicators Network from 1997 to 2018 and acts now as Chair of the Global Coordination Group for FAO’s Regional Forest Communicators Networks. He holds a degree in Forestry from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna and has been a university lecturer for international forest policy and sustainable development matters at several Universities.