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UNEP/UN-REDD National Programme Officer

UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme

Seth Shames, Director of Innovations in Policy and Markets, EcoAgriculture Partners

Patrick Durst is Senior Forestry Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. He coordinates and supports FAO’s forestry and natural resources management program of work and activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Erik Solheim is the Executive Director of UN Environment. Previously, he was the chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD, the main body of the world’s development donors. He has also served as Norway’s minister of the environment and international development and acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2005. Moreover, he has contributed to peace processes in Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and Burundi.

Valerie Kapos leads the Climate Change and Biodiversity Programme at UN Environment’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). Val has worked for more than 30 years on understanding tropical forests, their biodiversity and ecosystem services, including through remote sensing. She recently discussed the potential of these new technical approaches in a ‘Perspective’ in Science (Kapos. Seeing the forest through the trees: Remote-sensing data identify functional trait variation in tropical forests. Science 27 January 2017).

Conservator General of Forests, Forest Department, also serves as the National Programme Director of the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme.

Amanda works as a REDD+ Tenure Specialist with FAO supporting the UN-REDD Programme and its member countries to address tenure in the context of REDD+. Amanda has over 20 years of experience in the natural resources and environment sector in Asia and Africa. She is a specialist not only in resource tenure, but also in community-based natural resources management, stakeholder engagement, consultation processes, and gender assessment. Prior to joining FAO, Amanda worked in Cambodia for 14 years where she was deeply involved in tenure issues, both at the national policy level in developing supportive legislation as well as at the field level in supporting local efforts to organize consultations, meet legal requirements, and register community forestry lands. Amanda has a Masters Degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a Bachelors degree from Amherst College.

Dr. Edu Effiom serves as Cross River State’s REDD+ Coordinator within the Ministry of Climate Change and Forestry

Mirey is a development enthusiast aiming to bridge the divide between Development and Conservation, public sector and private enterprise, and human and nature. She has been working for the UN since 2006 supporting national efforts for sustainable development. Twitter: @REDDBluethroat

Jonathan Gheyssens coordinates the activities of UN Environment’s Finance Initiative on REDD+ and sustainable land use in Africa where he is focusing on private sector engagement and finance in the context of REDD+. Jonathan is based in Geneva and can be reached under jonathan.gheyssens@unep.org.

Emelyne Cheney is UN Environment’s REDD+ Regional Technical Advisor for Asia Pacific. Previously, she spent two years providing technical support to Congo Basin countries. Emelyne is based in Bangkok and can be reached under Emelyne.Cheney@unep.org.