CAC Steering Committee Members

I completed my B.Sc. & M.Sc. in Natural Resources Management –Forestry and Forest ecology in Iran, and have a Ph.D. in Environmental Science –Agroforestry field, from Pune University, India. I am currently the Managing Director of a national NGO, the Center for Conservation and Development of Sustainable Ecosystems (ZIPAK), working project-based as Senior Research Associate/ Project Manager in Ecosystem-based Natural Resource/ Protected Area Management and as a facilitator. I am also member of the regional IUCN Expert Assessment group for the Green List (EAGL), member of the IUCN Reginal Committee, member of CEPA/International committees at CBD Iran, as well as being appointed as senior fellow in the Global Alliance of Evergreening. I have fieldwork and research experience in sustainable/community-based natural resources/protected areas management, GIS and participatory planning, sustainable livelihoods and bio-cultural diversity conservation. I have worked with CSOs (NGOs, CBOs, Cooperatives, Startups, etc.), natural resources departments in academic environments and relevant governmental organizations as well as UN agencies including UNDP, FAO and UNESCO and Environmental Conventions of CBD, UNCCD and UNFCCC. Accordingly, I am familiar with SDGs and Environmental laws and legislations. I also worked part-time and voluntarily with the Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Organization (FRWO), as the Consultant for Forest Reserves, as well as DoE, Habitats and Protected Areas Office, as the Consultant for Biosphere Reserves & Peace Parks, when I managed the successful nomination of 13th Biosphere Reserve of Iran called Kopet-Dag.

Deputy Chair, Cathy Yitong Li has been following UNFCCC processes from gender and youth perspectives since she was a teenager, besides advising 6 UN agencies and various organisations on civil society engagement. By profession, Cathy is a sustainability consultant at Deloitte. Cathy has been supporting and collaborating with IUCN on youth engagement in the past years. Within IUCN, Cathy is a SteerCo member of the Climate Crisis Commission and WCPA's Young Professionals Focal Point in Europe.

Dr Aby DRAME, Programme Coordinator at Enda Energie, member of Enda Tiers-Monde Network. Coordinator of the platform Agora30 for the resilience of Senegal since 2016. A multi- stakeholder platform wich aim to promote the synergy of initiatives for building resilience to climate extremes and other disasters.

She has the opportunity to coordinate projects on climate change, sustainable development biodiversity and renewable energy. She has more than twenty years work experience. Managed activities for better consideration of Indigenous / local Knowledge in African Climate Change workplan. She deals with access to sustainable energy services for rural and peri urban perspective of Endogenous Development less intensive in carbon. She used to give technical and financial support to entrepreneurs (supply side) and end users (demand side) through decentralized financial systems (SFD).

She was Knowledge Management Engagement Leader in Building Resilience Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme in Charge of two projects in Sénégal and Mali 2015-2018.- Decentralized Climate Funds (DCF)/BRACED, Near East Foundation, IED-Afrique, IIED. - Partnership to build flood resilience and improve the livelihoods, Consortium pour la Recherche Economique et Sociale (CRES). She coordinated the project promoting Endogenous Technologies for mitigation and adaptation. She coordinated the project Indigenous Knowledge Bank in C3D+ programme 2011- 2014.

Aby DRAME is author of many publications in adaptation mitigation on climate change in relations with communities’ livelihoods.

She documented around 60 indigenous best practices for adaptation and mitigation to climate change in West, Central and Est Africa.

She has been selected by the President of the UN General Assembly as speaker at the interactive dialogue “Protecting our planet and combatting climate change “during the UN Summit for the adoption of the Post 2015 Development Agenda. She is author of many publications on climate change and sustainable Development.

She was the chair of IUCN National committee members of Senegal from 2011 to 2016. She was vice chair of IUCN Regional committee members for West and central Africa (CREMACO) 2012- 2016.

Aby DRAME has a background in Environment, geography and diplomacy. She holds a PhD in Environmental science.

I previously represented Oceania to the IUCN governing council from 2012-2016 and 2016-2021. I am a member of Te Ipukarea Society, the Cook Islands IUCN member. I am currently working for the Cook Islands Government on the Green Climate Fund. We have been successful in securing funds under the Readiness Support Programme and Project Preparation Funding. I have worked on, both professionally and on a voluntary basis, species recovery, Protected Areas and biodiversity conservation. I am a qualified yoga instructor. My greatest achievements are those of my children.

Christopher is the Elizabeth N. Wilds Executive Director of Cornell Botanic Gardens of Cornell University and is Chair of the IUCN National Committee for the USA. He is a botanist and conservation ecologist with an interest in the relationships between people and place and human impacts on the landscape. More recently, he has been studying the intersection of biological and cultural conservation. He has served on various boards, including the American Public Gardens Association (for which he served as President) and presently serves as Vice Chair of Terralingua, an international nonprofit organization concerned about the future of the world's biological, cultural and linguistic diversity and sits on the board of the IUCN-US. Christopher is active in several international conservation organizations, including Botanic Gardens Conservation International and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and was instrumental in preparing the successful bid to host IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in Hawai´i, USA in 2016. Christopher holds faculty status at Cornell University and the University of Hawai'i.

I have more than 34 years of experience in the area of conservation and the environment. I last served as Associate Chief of the USDA, Forest Service in the USA and oversaw 193 million acres of the National Forest System lands, Research, State and Private Forestry, and International Programs in 60 countries. I also served as acting Deputy Under Secretary for USDA Natural Resource and Environment where I have led the Forest Service, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and Gulf Coast Restoration in the United States. I worked extensively on Forest Management, Climate Change, and working with indigenous communities, and on government-to-government consultations. I also oversaw programs for natural resource technical assistance in over 60 countries during my tenure as well as serving as an aide to a Member of the United States Congress. I served on the National Wildland Fire Leadership Council and the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation. Currently, I am on the CEESP as a Commissioner and involved with the emerging Climate Action Commission. I am a Spanish resident in Barcelona, Cataluyna, Spain.

MYRNA SEMAAN PhD Brief summary

A- Project Management and Consultancy (over 15 years):

• International organizations: 7 topics for IUCN, EU Commission, GEF
• Government: - ecological studies to the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Tourism - professional consultant to Minister of Agriculture (1994-1996) on donor funded projects.
• Private companies: 8 projects
• Donor funded projects: 7 projects, mainly capacity building with UNDP, GEF, GTZ, World Bank, EU.

B- Academic Management: Dean and chairperson of Faculty of Applied Sciences.

C- Professorship: 16 years giving courses geared to sustainable development at 9 universities including AUB, LAU, USEK, UBalamand, NDU.

D- Author: of 4 books which unveil the distinctive natural heritage of Lebanon and the East Mediterranean, and its integral cultural dimension, in addition to numerous articles.

E- Conservation: pioneered nature conservation with the development of the first two nature reserves (the most pristine cedar remnant, and a 3-island archipelago) through grassroots empowerment and parliamentary ratification of the first conservation law, creating the breakthrough and legal precedence in the Republic of Lebanon.Current conservation activity pioneers another module - conservation with the private sector.

F- Formal Qualifications

• PhD in Plant Science and conservation, University of Reading – England o research fellowship with the Division of Environmental System Policy and Management (ESPM), UC Berkeley – USA.
• Fulbright scholar

Oceanographer by training, I have been involved for 12 years in research projects on the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. I parallel, education and outreach have always been central to my concerns. I have given several seminars for students and the general public and led various educational workshops. Wishing to get more involved in the relation between science and society, I joined in 2020 a centre of excellence for Citizen Science of the French National Museum of Natural History as coordinator of programs.