Thierry has been working as a professional economist for the past 20 years and dealt with issues ranging from development macro-economics at the national level; the linkages between poverty and environment; green economy roll-out at country level; implementation of natural capital accounting and valuation in more than 8 countries to date. Thierry has also published in journals and was a lead author in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment initiative Policy Response Group. Thierry Is currently involved in private sector engagement and green innovative business solutions while actively continuing to support countries with Natural Capital accounting and valuation of critical ecosystems and their related services;
M. Gaston Samba
Gaston Samba, est un enseignant-chercheur à l’université Marien Ngouabi de Brazzaville (Congo) formé à l’université de Bourgogne (Dijon-France). Il est Maître des Conférences CAMES de géographie physique (spécialité climatologie).
Gaston Samba
Gaston Samba, est un enseignant-chercheur à l’université Marien Ngouabi de Brazzaville (Congo) formé à l’université de Bourgogne (Dijon-France). Il est Maître des Conférences CAMES de géographie physique (spécialité climatologie).
Pr. Simon Lewis
Simon Lewis is Professor of Global Change Science at the University of Leeds and University College London. Prior to this he was a Royal Society University Research Fellow for nine years. A plant ecologist by training, he focuses on changes to the Earth system with a central focus on the tropics. He founded and co-manage the African Tropical Rainforest Observatory, AfriTRON (www.afritron.org), a network of long-term tropical forest inventory sites across 13 countries in Africa, and co-manages the long-term forest inventory data repository and data management tool forestplots.net. With Greta Dargie, Suspense Ifo, Yannick Bocko and others he first quantified the extent of the Central Congo peatlands and made the first estimate of the peatlnds’ carbon stocks that included on the ground observations.
Prof. Simon Lewis
Simon Lewis is Professor of Global Change Science at the University of Leeds and University College London. Prior to this he was a Royal Society University Research Fellow for nine years. A plant ecologist by training, he focuses on changes to the Earth system with a central focus on the tropics. He founded and co-manage the African Tropical Rainforest Observatory, AfriTRON (www.afritron.org), a network of long-term tropical forest inventory sites across 13 countries in Africa, and co-manages the long-term forest inventory data repository and data management tool forestplots.net. With Greta Dargie, Suspense Ifo, Yannick Bocko and others he first quantified the extent of the Central Congo peatlands and made the first estimate of the peatlnds’ carbon stocks that included on the ground observations.
Dr Assitou Ndinga
Assitou Ndinga is a biologist. He holds the position of Consultant-Technical Advisor to Wetlands International, based in Dakar, Senegal since May 2010. Ndinga has long experience working for the Academic, Government and NGO sectors as he has spent several years working for the University of Congo, Government of Congo and International NGOs in Central and West African Regions. Ndinga served as IUCN Regional Coordinator for Central Africa. During this time, he helped launch and develop the Brazzaville Process (Conférence sur les Ecosystèmes de Forêts Denses et Humides d’Afrique Centrale). Currently, much of Ndinga’s work for Wetlands International is to provide Technical & strategic advice on issues related to development and implementation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Livelihoods initiatives.
Dr. Ndinga Assitou
Assitou Ndinga is a biologist. He holds the position of Consultant-Technical Advisor to Wetlands International, based in Dakar, Senegal since May 2010. Ndinga has long experience working for the Academic, Government and NGO sectors as he has spent several years working for the University of Congo, Government of Congo and International NGOs in Central and West African Regions. Ndinga served as IUCN Regional Coordinator for Central Africa. During this time, he helped launch and develop the Brazzaville Process (Conférence sur les Ecosystèmes de Forêts Denses et Humides d’Afrique Centrale). Currently, much of Ndinga’s work for Wetlands International is to provide Technical & strategic advice on issues related to development and implementation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Livelihoods initiatives.
Mme Dianna Kopansky
Dianna Kopansky is the Coordinator of the Global Peatlands Initiative and UN-REDD Programme in the Freshwater, Land and Climate Branch at UN Environment, based in Nairobi, Kenya. An expert in landscapes and biodiversity, she delivers a suite of ecosystem management and climate change programmes to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dianna has worked in Africa for the past 17 years on a range of issues within the emergency, humanitarian, and development fields. For UN Environment, she works globally and has led teams to develop and implement project just as the 17 MDG-F Environment and Climate Change Joint Projects. While working with the Executive Office she developed UN system-wide strategies, policies to strengthen the Regional Offices, and her work enabled the inclusion of Environment as a pillar in the UN Development Assistance Frameworks. Working in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions, she led the environmental portfolio for UN-FAO’s Regional Emergency Office for Africa. While with UNDP’s Drylands Development Centre, Dianna provided direct technical support to governments in over 40 countries to integrate environmental issues into national development plans and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and developed a new area of work on Drylands Biodiversity.
Prior to coming to Africa, Dianna worked for the Canadian Government preparing their “State of Environment” reports and was part of a team that undertook a ground-breaking study developing a Decision Support System – the Illness Cost of Air Pollution. The results of the study enabled the Ontario and Canadian Governments to dramatically improve air quality by lowering allowable pollutant levels. Dianna holds a Master of Environmental Studies Degree from York University and a Bachelor of Science Honors Degree in Conservation Biology and Ecology from Queen’s University in Canada.
Dianna Kopansky
Dianna Kopansky is the Coordinator of the Global Peatlands Initiative and UN-REDD Programme in the Freshwater, Land and Climate Branch at UN Environment, based in Nairobi, Kenya. An expert in landscapes and biodiversity, she delivers a suite of ecosystem management and climate change programmes to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dianna has worked in Africa for the past 17 years on a range of issues within the emergency, humanitarian, and development fields. For UN Environment, she works globally and has led teams to develop and implement project just as the 17 MDG-F Environment and Climate Change Joint Projects. While working with the Executive Office she developed UN system-wide strategies, policies to strengthen the Regional Offices, and her work enabled the inclusion of Environment as a pillar in the UN Development Assistance Frameworks. Working in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions, she led the environmental portfolio for UN-FAO’s Regional Emergency Office for Africa. While with UNDP’s Drylands Development Centre, Dianna provided direct technical support to governments in over 40 countries to integrate environmental issues into national development plans and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and developed a new area of work on Drylands Biodiversity.
Prior to coming to Africa, Dianna worked for the Canadian Government preparing their “State of Environment” reports and was part of a team that undertook a ground-breaking study developing a Decision Support System – the Illness Cost of Air Pollution. The results of the study enabled the Ontario and Canadian Governments to dramatically improve air quality by lowering allowable pollutant levels. Dianna holds a Master of Environmental Studies Degree from York University and a Bachelor of Science Honors Degree in Conservation Biology and Ecology from Queen’s University in Canada.
Muhammad ZAHRUL Muttaqin
Muhammad ZAHRUL Muttaqin is a researcher at the Centre for Socio-economic, Policy and Climate Change Research and Development (P3SEKPI) within Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia. His expertise and interests are forest economics and policy.
He graduated from Bogor Agricultural University for his Bachelor in Forestry and Master of Management in Agribusiness. He also obtained Master of Forestry and PhD in Environment and Development from the Australian National University. His PhD work was related to designing payments for environmental services to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Indonesia.
He has been involving in several research and development projects related to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) including: (1) REDD+ Research Projects funded by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR); (2) Forest Carbon Partnership Facility for the development of Carbon Fund-based Emissions Reduction Program in East Kalimantan; (3) Research on Climate Change Mitigation conducted by Forestry Research and Development Agency (FORDA); and (4) Research on the role of protected areas for climate change mitigation supported by IJ-REDD+. He published international and national journal articles and participated in national and international fora for seminars, workshops and negotiations.