The Contributions for Nature Strategic Initiative Advisory Board helps to ensure the maximum utility of the Contributions for Nature platform to the IUCN constituency and to nature conservation overall.
Specifically, the members of the Advisory Board:
David Gadsden, Esri Director of Conservation Solutions, is an applied geographer with more than two decades of experience applying geospatial technology to address complex humanitarian and conservation challenges. Gadsden earned a geography degree from the University of Washington in 1995 and later served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in rural Tanzania, working on community-based natural resource management. In his early career he architected and implemented GIS solutions to address environmental, social, public safety, emergency response and construction engineering challenges while working for both commercial and nonprofit organizations. In 2002, Gadsden joined Esri, where he initially served as a technical advisor to the United Nations, US Department of State, and US Agency for International Development. He has helped a diverse community leverage the “Science of Where” to address complex challenges ranging from global health, disaster response, wildlife protection, green infrastructure, tribal governance, historic preservation and community development.
Since September 2019, Francesco Gaeta has served as Director of European and International Action at the Ministries of Ecological Transition and Sea – Paris (France). Responsible for monitoring European and international policies falling within the scope of the ministry: environment, energy, transport, climate, and maritime issues. In these areas, his role includes: implementation of political orientations, negotiation of European legislative proposals (Green deal) and international texts (climate, biodiversity, UNEA, G7-G20, etc).
Jonny Hughes, Chief Executive Officer, World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), has overall leadership responsibility for the Centre, whilst fostering seamless collaboration between the charity and the UN Environment Programme as UNEP-WCMC. As leader of WCMC, Jonny is responsible for building a high-performance culture that ensures quality outputs and measurable impact for UNEP-WCMC as it strives towards its vision for a ‘sustainable world for biodiversity and people’. Jonny reports to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of WCMC. Before joining WCMC Jonny was the Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scotland’s leading environmental charity, and had previously worked for the Woodland Trust and Westminster City Council. Jonny has been an elected global Councillor of IUCN since 2012, spending four of those years as chair of the Council’s Policy and Programme Committee. He is also a non-Executive Director of Corrour Estate, a large upland estate in Scotland, and a trustee at the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Chris Mahon is the Chair of the IUCN Global Group for National and Regional Committee Development and Co-Chair of the Interregional Committee for Europe, North and Central Asia. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the IUCN National Committee UK, a member of two IUCN Commissions and owner of consultancy business Chris Mahon Environment Ltd. He is an experienced business owner with a history of working in the environmental services industry (30+ years) in the public, private and voluntary sectors at local, national, regional and international levels. Chris is a strong business development professional skilled in strategic planning and engagement, environmental awareness and communications, natural resource management and report writing.
Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema has worked with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for over two decades and has served in various roles, including as Director of the Law Division, Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division, and Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Her work at UNEP has focused on the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws at national, regional and international levels. Before joining UNEP, Elizabeth worked with Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and left as a Counsellor/Senior Legal Counsel. During her time with the Ministry, she was also a lecturer in Public International Law and Conference Diplomacy at Tanzania's Centre for Foreign Relations and Diplomacy.
IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Chair Dr Jon Paul Rodríguez is Professor at the Center for Ecology of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Investigations (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas), and he is a founder and current President (2013-present) of Provita (a Venezuelan conservation non-governmental organisation and IUCN Member, established in 1987). His undergraduate degree in biology is from Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas (1991). He was then awarded a Fulbright scholarship for a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University (1999). His work focuses on understanding patterns in the spatial distribution of threatened species and ecosystems, as well as the underlying causes of these patterns, and the development of policy guidelines for biodiversity conservation. He is author or co-author of more than 230 publications, including many peer-reviewed articles in acclaimed scientific journals.
Patricia Zurita has served as Chief Executive of the BirdLife International Partnership since February 2015. Originally from Ecuador, Patricia has a well-established background in natural resource economics and management. She has worked across the globe developing economic initiatives and building civil society capacity, in partnership with both the non-profit and the business sectors. She takes a pragmatic approach to conservation that has delivered real results while working with and helping to develop civil society. Her previous role was as Executive Director of the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund and Vice President of Conservation International, where she developed multi-million dollar strategic partnerships to consolidate and expand the existing work of the organisation.
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