All about nature

Scientific expertise for nature and landscape conservation.

We are botanists and vegetation ecologists working at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. For public authorities, municipalities and investors we map and monitor habitats, assess the impacts of plans and projects on nature, and prepare forensic expert opinions and nature conservation documentation.

Our work rests on our own field data, not on recycled studies.

Our services Get in touch

Morning mist over the prairie in North Dakota — Morning on the prairie, North Dakota, USA.

Qualified person

Reg. no. P-39/2019 under § 55 of Act No. 543/2002 Coll.

Natura 2000

Authorised person for appropriate assessment

Forensic expert

Environmental protection

Mária Šibíková and Jozef Šibík, managing directors of Geobotany s. r. o. – Massif Central, Clermont-Ferrand, September 2026.

About us

All about nature is all for humanity.

Internationally recognised scientists in botany, ecology and vegetation dynamics decided to put years of experience, professional reputation and practice at the service of society.

The idea of a private research company was born in 2018 at the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, where Jozef Šibík and Mária Šibíková were key people at the start of the NaturaSat software development under the PECS projects of the European Space Agency (ESA). Geobotany grew out of academia and remains closely connected to it.

We work with government agencies and environmental organisations to share knowledge and promote best practice. Using advanced technologies and data analysis, we give our clients accurate and detailed assessments of ecological conditions – a basis for informed decisions and proactive environmental protection.

2018

the company idea is born at the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre SAS

continents of fieldwork – Europe, North and South America, Africa

ESA · NASA

NaturaSat (PECS projects) and the ABoVE project – Arctic vegetation map

accreditations: qualified person, Natura 2000 authorised person, forensic expert

Is what you want really what the environment needs?

Eroded prairie landscape with an oil pumpjack

Do you need to know how your business plan or project will affect the environment and nature?

Do you care about the place where you live, or a place you have grown attached to?

Are you unhappy with what is happening in your neighbourhood in terms of environmental protection?

Do you need an assessment based on real data that identifies actual impacts and changes – without misleading claims, padding or “copy and paste”?

We guarantee impartiality grounded in science, real data, professionalism and ideals.

Services

From field survey to expert opinion.

Assessments and expert opinions

Forensic expert opinions in environmental protection
Environmental impact assessment
Appropriate assessment of impacts on Natura 2000 sites
Expert reviews

Mapping and monitoring

Habitat mapping and monitoring
Identification of potential and/or natural vegetation
Bat monitoring
Aerial (drone) surveys
Photography

Documentation and planning

Nature and landscape conservation documentation
Background studies for spatial planning
Project preparation and implementation
Restoration

Advisory, research and education

Advice on land use and landscape management
Consultancy
Research and development
Education and training

How we work

Satellite data and remote sensing

Detection of Natura 2000 habitats from satellite data, building on our work on the NaturaSat software for ESA.

Drones and aerial imaging

Certified remote pilot authorised by the Transport Authority of the Slovak Republic for reconnaissance flights.

Acoustic biodiversity monitoring

Acoustic recorders capture the soundscapes of habitats; from vocalisations we determine species presence and abundance.

Fieldwork and permanent plots

Phytosociological relevés, long-term plots and numerical methods – from Lomnický štít to Alaska.

Nature conservation documentation we are authorised to prepare

Geobotany s.r.o. is registered under no. P-39/2019 as a legal entity in the list of qualified persons under § 55 of Act No. 543/2002 Coll. on Nature and Landscape Protection, as amended, and is authorised to prepare the following nature and landscape conservation documentation:

management plans for protected sites, nature reserves, natural monuments, national nature reserves, national natural monuments and protected trees
management plans for sites of the European network of protected areas (Natura 2000)
management plans for plant species
rescue programmes for protected sites, nature reserves, natural monuments, national nature reserves and national natural monuments
rescue programmes for private protected areas
rescue programmes for critically endangered protected plant and animal species
rescue programmes for zones of protected landscape areas and national parks
protection projects for protected sites, nature reserves, natural monuments and private protected areas
protection projects for protected trees and their buffer zones
proposals for Sites of Community Importance
the national red list of rare and threatened plant and animal species
proposals for compensatory measures under § 28(9) of Act No. 543/2002 Coll.

Authorised person entitled to prepare appropriate assessments of plans and projects affecting Natura 2000 sites and proposals for compensatory measures under § 28a of Act No. 543/2002 Coll., certified under § 21 of Decree No. 170/2021 Coll. of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic.

In the field

Every assessment starts in the field.

Floodplain forests, wetlands, peatlands and mountain habitats – we collect our data ourselves, in any weather.

Vegetation survey in a river side arm — Surveying a river side arm in a floodplain forest

Sampling in a beech forest — Collecting and labelling samples in a forest stand

Recording aquatic vegetation by a lake — Recording aquatic and shoreline vegetation

Peat bog with pines — Peatland research in northern Europe

GNSS survey in a wetland — Habitat mapping in a wetland with GNSS

Sampling water from a mountain pool in the rain — Sampling mountain wetlands – rain or shine

Vegetation survey on the bank of a river side arm — Vegetation survey by a river side arm

Vegetation survey along a transect in a wet meadow

By a mountain lake in the High Tatras — Alpine habitats, High Tatras

In a floodplain forest by a river side arm — Floodplain forest by a river side arm

From lowland floodplain forests to high mountain ridges, from dry steppes to wetlands, from semi-deserts to the Arctic tundra.

We work across gradients – from wet to dry, from lowlands to mountains, from the tropics to the Arctic. The question is always the same: how vegetation changes, and why.

River side arm with floodplain forest — Klátov river arm, Danube Lowland

Mountain valley with forests and alpine meadows in the USA — Mountain ecosystems, USA

Sunrise over misty meadows — Morning over the meadows

Projects

Selected projects

Cover of the Catalogue of Habitats of Slovakia

2024 · State Nature Conservancy SR Catalogue of Habitats of Slovakia Co-authors of the extended 2nd edition of the catalogue (ed. R. Šuvada, State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic), freely available at biomonitoring.sk.

Konik horses grazing in the Štiavnica Mountains

2019 – 2025 · Štiavnica Mountains Effects of konik horse grazing on different vegetation types Grazing by Polish konik horses as nature-friendly habitat management. Within a year, broad-leaved herbs and orchids increased – more than 120 green-winged orchids were counted in spring 2021.

2019 · Dunajské luhy Protected Landscape Area Klátov river arm Species and habitat monitoring ahead of flood-protection works, proposals for translocating protected organisms and impact mitigation measures.

2018 Reconstruction of Devínska Road Supplementary studies of impacts on the Natura 2000 network, the territorial system of ecological stability, and habitats and species of European importance.

Jozef Šibík in the Arctic tundra below the Brooks Range

Hauling research equipment on a sled across the Arctic tundra

Expeditions · Alaska

The Arctic tundra as a laboratory of climate change.

Repeated research stays at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (2014 – 2019) and field expeditions to the Alaska Range and the Brooks Range. Equipment often travels by sled – to places no road reaches.

Presenting the NaturaSat software at an international conference

Mária Šibíková and Jozef Šibík at their poster on identifying habitats from Sentinel-2 satellite data in the Toolik Lake region, Alaska

International research

We present our results worldwide and bring the knowledge home.

Co-authors of the updated Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM) within NASA’s ABoVE project
Development of the NaturaSat software for habitat identification from satellite data in ESA PECS projects
Visiting positions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado State University
Talks and posters at international conferences – e.g. identifying habitat types from Sentinel-2 data in the Toolik Lake region, Alaska

Red Mountain Ranch farm

We don’t just assess the land. We farm it too.

Alongside research and consulting we run Red Mountain Ranch, a farm officially registered under no. P80415 as Red Mountain. Hands-on land management gives us a farmer’s perspective: we know what the measures we propose mean in day-to-day practice.

Herd of konik horses with foals on a pasture by the forest

Clients

We work for the state, municipalities, science and the private sector.

Adonis Consulting
Bratislava Regional Conservation Association (BROZ)
BW Development
Strážske wastewater treatment plant
EDWIN
Ekoconsult-enviro
Elektrovod a.s.
EN-DEV s.r.o.
ESET
ewia
General Investor of Bratislava
JESS – Jaslovské Bohunice
p4e
Petržalka City a.s.
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University
Slovak Environment Agency (SAŽP)
Slovak Water Management Enterprise (SVP)
Southbank
State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic (ŠOP SR)
Unison Holding operation
Valaliky industrial park
VGP – industrial buildings
Volvo Car Košice
Winport

Links

Media and articles (IN SLOVAK)

Team

The people behind Geobotany

The company is led by two scientists whose expertise complements each other – alpine and Arctic vegetation on one side, forests, floodplain habitats and satellite data on the other.

Mária Šibíková and Jozef Šibík on a monitoring plot on Lomnický štít — On a monitoring plot on Lomnický štít (2,634 m a.s.l.), High Tatras, August 2015. © Monika Majerová

Managing director · CEO

Mgr. Mária Šibíková, PhD.

Senior researcher at the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, focusing on forest vegetation, invasive alien species and remote sensing. Author of the syntaxonomic revision of Slovakia’s hardwood floodplain forests (Natura 2000 habitats) and supervisor of PhD research on detecting habitats from satellite data. Active in bat monitoring and protection since 1998.

Qualified person no. F-190/2019, forensic expert, Natura 2000 authorised person
Honorary award of the Presidium of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (2020) for research on non-native forests

ORCID · Publications

maria.sibikova@geobotany.sk · +421 907 386 832

Managing director · CEO

RNDr. Jozef Šibík, PhD.

Vegetation ecologist and senior researcher at the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Fieldwork on four continents – from the Carpathians and the Alps to Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, the Andes and the Western Cape. Co-author of the updated Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map within NASA’s ABoVE project. Certified drone pilot, also working on acoustic biodiversity monitoring.

Qualified person no. F-191/2019, consultant to the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, member of the Tatra National Park zoning commission
h-index 22, more than 3,300 citations (2024)

ORCID · LinkedIn

jozef.sibik@geobotany.sk · +421 911 739 930

Contact

Tell us about your project.

Registered office – Bratislava

Karpatské námestie 10/A
831 06 Bratislava

Krupina branch

Central Slovakia
Štiavnica Mountains

QR business card – Mária Šibíková — Business card – Mária

QR business card – Jozef Šibík — Business card – Jozef

Geobotany s. r. o. · Company ID 52108406 · Tax ID 2120897163 · VAT SK2120897163
Registered in the Commercial Register of the Municipal Court Bratislava III, Section Sro, Insert No. 133506/B