IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Dr. Michel Pimbert is currently Director of the Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity and Livelihoods Program at the UK based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED www.iied.org). An agricultural ecologist by training, he previously worked at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India, the University François Rabelais de Tours in France, and the World Wide Fund for Nature in Switzerland. Dr. Pimbert has been a Board member of several international NGOs working on food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture and human rights. He has done research for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), The World Conservation Union (IUCN), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Dr. Pimbert’s work centres on the political ecology of natural resource and biodiversity management, sustainable agriculture and livelihoods, food sovereignty and citizenship, and participatory action research and deliberative democratic processes. Over the last 28 years he has published extensively in these areas, linking theory with practice. His latest co-edited books include ‘Social Change and Conservation’, ‘The Life Industry. Biodiversity, People and Profits’, and ‘Sharing Power. Learning by doing in the co-management of natural resources throughout the world’. He also authored a recent on line multimedia book: ‘Towards Food Sovereignty. Reclaiming autonomous food systems’. He has lived and worked in South Asia and Europe, with experience in West Africa, Latin America and South East Asia. He is a French and English bilingual and speaks Spanish.