Key skills and expertise

Bringing over 40 years of experience in the natural resources sector, the expert specializes in forestry, wildlife, and protected areas management. Key qualifications include project planning, management, monitoring, and evaluation, with a strong emphasis on GIS and remote sensing. Career highlights include leading international projects focused on forest policy, education, and organizational development. Notable accomplishments include developing national guidelines for forest management plans and enhancing the capacity of forestry authorities. Responsibilities have included leadership roles in initiatives across Asia, Africa, and South America, contributing significantly to advancements in natural resources management and conservation.

Project experience and donor exposure

The expert has collaborated with international donors such as GIZ, EU, AFD, and the Asian Development Bank. Worked across diverse projects involving project implementation, technical assistance, evaluations, and capacity building. The thematic areas include governance, education, natural resources management, and biodiversity. Projects have been both regional and national in scope, occurring in locations such as Liberia, Malaysia, Tajikistan, India, Mongolia, and Ethiopia.

Sectors and geographic focus

With a background in rural development, education, environment and natural resource management, and monitoring and evaluation, the expert has held roles including consultant, team leader, and senior expert. Responsibilities have included project planning, management, and capacity building. His interdisciplinary knowledge encompasses the integration of GIS and remote sensing in natural resource management. The geographic scope includes regional and country-specific projects in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, focusing on forest policy, biodiversity, and organizational development. Extensive geographic experience spans Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with significant long-term assignments in Mexico, Guyana, Malaysia, Tajikistan, and Liberia. The expert has conducted numerous short-term missions in countries including Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Gambia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. His deep familiarity with local governance and regional development issues has been a key asset in implementing projects related to natural resources management and policy development in diverse cultural and political environments.

Languages and education

The expert is fluent in German, English, and Spanish, with excellent proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing, utilized extensively in international work settings, including in-country assignments and collaboration with multilingual teams. Additionally, he possesses basic proficiency in French, which has supported participation in diverse projects and facilitated effective communication in international development contexts. With a background in forestry and geographical information science, the expert holds a PhD in Forest Science (Dr. rer. silv.) from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany, and an MSc in Geographical Information Science from the University of London, UK. Additionally, he completed a State Examination (Assessor des Forstdienstes) at the State Forest Service, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and holds a Diplom-Forstwirt degree (Forest Engineer) from Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Germany.