About Us

Inspired by a vision

Forest.ink began as an event of the same name, with the goal of raising awareness of the threats facing the rainforest, while offering a solution: to support Bosque Medicinal, now our sister NGO, in their conservation efforts. Using the resources at-hand, Petra organized the first Forest.ink event bringing together many talented artists to amplify these messages while enabling donations through the sale of paintings and tattoos.

From this small seed, Forest.ink blossomed into the NGO it is today. Along our own journey, we have realized that in order to inspire others to care for our world, and the life it supports, people first had to be healed within. Without inner harmony and peace, many people have great intentions, but are too often pulled back into their own inner-battles, limiting their ability to fully tend to the world around us. With this understanding, we focused our local efforts on personal healing through Nature.

Since then we have grown, attracting like-minded and inspired people to help care for the Self and Nature. As a 100% volunteer-based organization, we are a dedicated group driven by the heart and a desire to have a positive impact on the world around us. We continue to support direct conservation in Ecuador through our sister NGO, Bosque Medicinal, and have partnered with other conservation-driven organizations throughout Europe and Latin America.

Petra Hlaváčková

Petra first first visited the Ecuadorian Amazon in 2016, where she entered a deeper commune with Mother Earth. This inspired her to launch Forest.ink, focusing on the protection and reforestation of the rainforests of our planet, starting at the level of each individual.

Roman Kollár

Roman is the founder of Bosque Medicinal, and our initial link to the Ecuadorian rainforest. He has lived in Ecuador for nearly 10 years now, and harbors a deep connection and love for the land. Roman initially lived with the Shuar community Asau for 2 years, learning their ancient wisdom and traditions.

Roman continues to deepen his practice and connection with Pachamama by learning from those that still harbor the ancient wisdom of the rainforests, and living these lessons daily. He inspires us constantly with his way of living in deep connection with nature with abundant love for the life we share this planet with.

Radim Ondříšek

Radim joined Forest.ink in 2018, and brought with him the grounding elements that we needed to turn our visions into a reality. Sharing in our love for Mother Earth, he has adventured to many exciting parts of our planet, and has spent some time exploring the rainforests of Latin America.

Radim has enjoyed a successful career running his own businesses in the Czech Republic. He brings this expertise and experience to our NGO, helping us enter the next stage of our growth, focusing our intentions, and increasing our impact.

Erik Liepmann

Erik has enjoyed a very diverse background, on every metric. Having grown up around the world, he welcomes and adapts to various cultures with ease and pleasure. Having fallen in love with the life on our planet at a young age, he now dedicates himself entirely to ecologic conservation, beginning at the individual level of personal healing and inspiration.

Erik’s love of adventure is endless, and he enjoys nothing more than sharing this with people in search of a deeper connection with our planet and the beautiful life it supports.

Fredy Nugra

Fredy grew up in Runahurco, the region that our sister organization Bosque Medicinal is focused on conserving. Having been enchanted by fish and aquatic life at a young age, he became a professor of biology at the University of Azuay.

Fredy’s love and joy for the life in the rainforest is infectious, and he has proven himself an invaluable part of both Forest.ink and Bosque Medicinal. When his time permits, he helps lead groups through the rainforest, explaining the beauty and mysteries of the life that surrounds them as they explore together. He has also helped Forest.ink and Bosque Medicinal forge lasting relationships with local communities, governments, and academic institutions.

Nico Kadlecová

Nico works with movement, sound, light, fabrics and colors. She finds inspiration in the universe, and particularly in the night’s starry sky. She works with artists of the same vibration and loves nature. She studies yoga therapy, works with breath, and other means to rejuvenate the body and mind. Nico studied painting at the Liberec Design Department, and has held creative courses for both children and adults in the years following.

Nico is a critical element in launching and organizing our local efforts. She has a gift for bringing people together for the most fantastic events, and always ensures there is an element of magic in all of them.

Nicolka Švandová

Several years ago Nicolka lost her eyesight due to a serious injury. In 2016, her life led her to Ecuador, where she had the opportunity to get acquainted with local curanderos and to connect with the healing power of nature in the Amazon rainforest. Since then she visited Latin America another two times, staying in Ecuador and Peru. Nicolka considers the beauty of nature and Mother Earth to be an inexhaustible well of inspiration. She perceives painting blind as a way to be close to your heart. Nicolka has also studied law, helping us navigate the legal mazes in the Czech Republic.

Bára Trnková

Bára has an enormous heart, and has been living a life of service to various social causes. Her love for life on this planet, in all of it’s curious forms, is abundant and inspiring. Currently she is involved professionally with Obraz, a Czech organization focused on legislative changes in support of animal rights and ethics. We are lucky to have her also help with Forest.ink, supporting our many local events and initiatives.

Michal Dopita

Michal loves nature, and is focused on spiritual development, particularly in conjunction with nature. He loves exploring this planet, music, travel, movement, learning, and life. He is a valuable part of our team, handling both our Facebook presence, and hosting some of our volunteer trips with Bosque Medicinal.

Erika Vynáhlovská

Erika has a gift for words, putting them to use as a professional content creator and freelance writer. She also has a passion for writing poetry, painting and sewing.

Erika spent 2 months in the jungles of Ecuador, exploring and deepening her connection with the vibrant nature and plants of the rainforest.

Erika is the head of social media for Forest.ink, allowing her another outlet to speak for the jungle. Alongside content creation and writing, she is an event enthusiast and enjoys helping to organize events for a variety of projects.

Denisa Lešková

Denisa is curious. She discovers the world with her eyes, her ears, her touch and most of all with her heart. Nature is her guide and breath is her constant support. She is looking for ways to live her highest potential every day and how she can fulfil it for the highest good of herself and everyone around her.

The forest called her in 2021 when she became part of the Forest.Ink inner circle. Professionally, she does project management and marketing communications at Kokoza, a social enterprise whose mission is composting and growing in the city.

At the same time, she is studying EcoArtTherapy, which combines everything she loves – nature, art and self-development. She brings to Forest.Ink her experience in leading small and medium sized teams, communication strategy and composting.

So it’s no surprise that at Refugio Forest Station, you’ll most often see her with her hands in the dirt or in the compost.

"We believe that in order to care effectively for this world, one must first be balanced and healed on the inside. Without inner peace, the best intentions get dragged back into the trials of the self."