Our proposal - Olivier Chassot & Sunita Chaudhary

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Road to Marseille

- World Commission on Protected Areas -

At the end of 2019, we began a participatory process to build a vision for transformative change in the commission, sharing the philosophical and programmatic components publicly.

Our team has invested more than 3400 hours of work. More than 130 people made valuable contributions. In this space, we invite you to get to know our proposal. We hope you like it, and we ask for your support in the IUCN elections.

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Olivier Chassot, PhD.

Dr. Olivier Chassot is the Program Director of Regenerate Costa Rica at the University for International Cooperation (UCI). In his career, Olivier Chassot has been Chief Operating Officer at Shellcatch Inc. (2018-2019), Executive Director and CEO of MigraMar (2017-2018), Executive Director of the Tropical Science Center (Costa Rica, 2012-2014), Dean of Environment & Director of the Latin American School for Protected Areas at UCI (Costa Rica). He was also President of the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation (2006-2014), and President of the Latin American and Caribbean Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB). Olivier has a PhD in Natural Sciences for Sustainable Development.

Over almost two decades, Olivier Chassot has developed a wide experience in designing, fundraising and implementing conservation biology programs, leadership of inter-institutional alliances at the national and international level. His areas of expertise include biodiversity, landscape issues, protected and conserved areas, wildlife, governance and ecosystem conservation. Olivier has authored or co-authored 134 publications, organized or co-organized more than 100 national, regional or global events, and presented over 180 papers at international conferences and workshops. Olivier is a passionate conservation practitioner compromised with high standards of excellence, and a team player able to build strong intercultural relationships. Olivier is fluent in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, with limited working proficiency in German and Indonesian, and is currently learning Mandarin and Arabic.

Sunita Chaudhary, PhD.

Dr. Sunita Chaudhary works as Ecosystem Services Specialist at ICIMOD. She is responsible for research, policy inputs, capacity building and advocacy of evidence-based policy for conservation and sustainable development of Hindu Kush Himalaya. She is an established forester with experience in natural resources management in Australia, Austria, Cambodia, and Hindu Kush Himalaya region. Her research interests fall under the broad umbrella of conservation science and political ecology. She was born and raised in the subtropical mountains of Nepal.

Sunita has a PhD from Macquarie University, Australia, and a MSc in Management of Protected Areas, Austria. She was also a visiting researcher at University of Cambridge, UK, and has been awarded several prestigious international fellowships and grants. Sunita has about four dozen articles in high impact factor journals and books to her credit.

Sunita Chaudhary is a proud mother of two young girls. She is a nature activist and advocate for just and equitable conservation for both humans and more-than humans. Sunita is equally sensitive to gender inequalities, and promotes gender integration in conservation sector in Nepal, Asia, and beyond.