Andrejs Svilāns

Andrejs Svilāns (born 15 June 1968) is a Latvian biologist specialising in dendrology and a politician. He has also worked as a radio journalist. Currently a member of the 14th Saeima, he has been a member of the Salaspils Municipal Council for several terms. He is known as the long-time head of the National Botanical Garden and Director General of the Nature Conservation Agency.

Biography
Born in Lielajos Strodos, Varakļānai parish, he received his secondary education (1986) at Varakļāni secondary school. He started his studies at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Latvia, which were interrupted by his service in Afghanistan (1987–1989). He graduated from the University of Latvia in 1993 with a degree in plant physiology. He completed his PhD studies at Daugavpils University in the field of natural sciences. He has further studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin and the University of Bonn.

During his studies (since 1991) he started working at the National Botanical Garden (NBD): first in the Dendroflora Department and later as a curator of the NBD collections and exhibitions. In 2006 he became the Director of the NBD. In 2019 he was selected as the Director General of the Nature Conservation Agency, but in parallel he continued working at the NBD as a curator of collections, acting head of the Dendroflora Department.

In addition to his botanical work, he worked as a journalist for Radio Free Europe.

Political career
Svilāns successfully ran in the 2009 municipal elections on the joint list of the Union of Greens and Farmers and the LSDP, and in the 2013 and 2017 municipal elections to the Salaspils Regional Council on the list of the Union of Greens and Farmers.

In the 2021 elections, he was also elected to the regional council from the list of the Latvian Green Party.

In the autumn of 2022, A. Svilāns ran for the 14th Saeima elections on the United list. Although he was not initially elected to the 14th Saeima, on 15 December he became a Member of the Parliament after Māris Sprindžukas resigned as a minister.