Posts in category: Speakers Peatlands

« Dr Norbert GAMI, anthropologue, de nationalité Congolaise (Brazzaville), titulaire d’un Doctorat en Anthropologie alimentaire depuis 1992 à l’Université Aix-Marseille III en France.
Depuis 1995, je travaille comme anthropologue de la conservation pour l’aménagement et la valorisation des aires protégées en Afrique centrale sous le volet de l’implication des communautés Autochtones et locales dans la gestion durable des ressources naturelles.

J’ai travaillé pour les ONGs internationales et organismes sous régionaux suivants : Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Ecosystèmes Forestiers d’Afrique Centrale (ECOFAC – UE), Avenir des Peuples des Forêts Tropicales (APFT), The Forest Trust « TFT – sur la certification forestière FSC), Le Réseau des Aires Protégées d’Afrique Centrale (RAPAC) en Afrique centrale avec base à Libreville au Gabon.

Le travail de terrain a été dans les différents parcs nationaux du Congo Brazzaville (Odzala, Nouabalé-Ndoki, Conkouati, Lac Télé, futur parc Ogooué Lékéti). Plusieurs missions de terrain dans les aires protégées des pays d’Afrique centrale (République Démocratique du Congo, Cameroun, Gabon, Sao-Tomé et Principe, Guinée Equatoriale).
Mon travail était axé sur les droits coutumiers, l’accès aux soins de santé et l’amélioration du bien-être en général des communautés Autochtones, Mbendjellé, Ba Aka, Mikaya, Ba Kola, Ngombé, Tswa.
J’ai beaucoup travaille sur les connaissances écologiques traditionnelles des peuples des forets de l’Afrique centrale.
Enseignant vacataire à l’Université Marien N’Gouabi au Congo (Anthropologie alimentaire), au département d’anthropologie de l’Université Omar Bongo (Gabon) en écotourisme et valorisation des aliments traditionnels sur le plan touristique, a l’Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forêts (ENEF) au Gabon.
Actuellement, je travaille comme Conseiller Technique Principal en Socio-économie pour l’ONG Américaine Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) au Congo Brazzaville.
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Timothy Jessup is a technical and policy advisor, program leader, and researcher in the areas of forests and climate change, rural development, peatland restoration, and nature conservation with more than 25 years’ professional experience, mostly in Indonesia. He currently works for the Global Green Growth Institute, where he leads work on designing bankable projects for forest and land use, including peatlands.

Mr. Jessup previously worked for bilateral and multilateral development agencies, including AusAID, USAID, and the World Bank, and for several international NGOS. He has advised and collaborated with district, provincial, and national level government agencies including the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Peatland Restoration Agency, and the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS).

« Jonathan Hughes is the CEO of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scotland’s leading environmental charity, and an elected global Councillor of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s oldest and largest conservation organisation. Since being fascinated by wildlife from the age of four, Jonathan has devoted his life to helping create a world where nature and people prosper together. Throughout his career he has pioneered new ideas in nature conservation, challenged received wisdom and focused on turning words into action.
In 2013, Jonathan co-founded the World Forum on Natural Capital, a global initiative led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership with United Nations Environment, IUCN, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Natural Capital Coalition. The UN has said of the World Forum that it has ‘been successful in creating an awareness of the critical role natural capital plays for the economy, including for business and finance’.
Jonathan also is a non-Executive Director of Corrour Estate, board member of the government agency Architecture and Design Scotland and scientific advisor to the European Outdoor Conservation Association.
In his spare time, Jonathan plays squash competitively, if averagely, and getting out in the wilds to pursue his interests in natural history and landscape. He is also passable amateur Italian Renaissance art historian.
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Dr. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, UN Environment Programme, Director and Regional Representative for Africa is a national of Benin. Dr. Koudenoukpo has a wealth of experience in international development assistance and 26 years of experience in environmental projects and programmes management. She has worked with a wide range of international organizations, including UNDP and IUCN, Stockholm Environment Institute, and leading international institutions working in the area of environment, addressing sustainable development and poverty reduction. She has been involved in multi-country project design, development, management and resource mobilization in numerous countries within Western, Southern, Eastern, and Central Africa.

From 2007 to 2008 she held the position of Minister of Environment and Nature Protection for the Benin government. She also used to be Acting Minister of Family and the Child.
Prior to joining UN Environment in September 2015, Dr. Koudenoukpo was with Canadian Crossroads International (CCI) where she was the Director of Programmes, and with Canadian Center for International Studies and Cooperation where she was the Regional Director for Africa.
She holds an MSc. degree in Forestry Economics, a PhD. degree in Public Policy and Administration, and an expert diploma in Renewable Energy.

With his horticultural background Gerald Schmilewski entered the world of peatlands and peat as a researcher at the German Peat Research Institute. Scientific and practical experience with a number of companies, universities and institutes, in combination with his curiosity and inquisitive nature deepened his knowledge in peat and peatland science, giving him the opportunity to engage in a number of related tasks and duties.

Johannes leads the secretariat for the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), a unique alliance of member nations, research institutions, conservation organizations, United Nations agencies and private supporters that is based at UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) headquarters in Nairobi.
Johannes has a Diploma degree in animal ecology and has held scientific positions in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. He was co-director of the Tai Monkey Project in Cote d’Ivoire, and the results of his PhD work in 2001 resulted in a Research Conservation Award from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques.
Johannes relocated to East Africa in 2005, and worked as a programme manager for the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), then joined GRASP in 2006. He is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Primate Specialist Group and the IUCN Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group. He has a wide experience in natural resource management (NRM) and assisted GTZ (German Techncial Cooperation), IGCP, WWF and UNEP in designing, supervising and implementing NRM projects.
Johannes has visited many great ape range states in Africa and Asia, and the GRASP great apes photo exhibition “Their Fate is Ours: the Humanity of Great Apes” features his pictures and tours around African great ape range states and European donor countries.

Conservation and management of biodiversity specialist, currently working with the National Service of Protected Areas of Peru, Machupicchu Historical Sanctuary. Work previously done on mapping ecosystems in the Andes and Amazon regions of Cusco and Madre de Dios, including Andean peatlands (which are locally named as oqhonales) and in using this information in land planning use and management; also in designing conservation areas and in managing cultural landscapes.

Après de mon doctorat unique en 2010 sur l’apport des stocks de carbone dans les forêts galeries des plateaux batékés, j’ai travaillé pendant deux ans pour le projet WRI et Winrock sur les quantifications des émissions de CO2 provenant de la déforestation et de la dégradation forestière en République du Congo.

Depuis 2015, je suis assistant professeur à l’université Marien N’Gouabi de Brazzaville. En dehors de travaux de recherche sur les tourbières avec l’université de Leeds, je conduis actuellement le projet de recherche sur le suivi par télédéction de la déforestation et de la dégradation due à la croissance urbaine de quelques localités forestiers, impact sur la biodiversite et le stock de carbone. Auteurs de plusieurs publications, j’ai déjà assuré l’encadrement de plusieurs memoires de Master et participe à l’encadrement des thèses.

Jay brings to the Ramsar Secretariat more than two decades of integrated fundraising and communications experience.

For the past four years Jay was the Director, Private Sector Division of the UN World Food Programme, overseeing relationships with businesses, foundations and NGO’s. Previously Jay was Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. At UNICEF he was the creator of the Believe in Zero call-to-action campaign and UNICEF’s award winning clean water initiative, the Tap Project.

Other experience includes advising the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) on the development of a global pledging conference to support sustainable and climate smart agriculture, and new innovative funding mechanisms.

Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment). Prior to joining UN Environment in August 2016, Solheim was the chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

From 2007 to 2012, Solheim held the combined portfolio of Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development, and from 2005 to 2007 served as Minister of International Development. During his time as Minister, Norwegian aid reached 1%, the highest in the world.
Solheim is also an experienced peace negotiator, having acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2005.

He continued to lead peace efforts in Sri Lanka as Minister, and has contributed to peace processes in Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and Burundi. In addition to his career as a Minister and at the OECD, Solheim has served as UN Environment’s Special Envoy for Environment, Conflict and Disaster since 2013 and a Patron of Nature for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2012. Solheim holds a degree in history and social studies from the University of Oslo.