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New Rainforest Alliance president

Nigel Sizer

Nigel Sizer

The Rainforest Alliance has announced that Nigel Sizer has been named as its new president, effective February 1, 2016. Source: Timberbiz

Mr Sizer brings with him 25 years of international experience in natural resources management, most recently as Global Director of the Forests Program at the World Resources Institute.

He has also served as Vice President for Asia-PaciQc with Rare, where he developed grassroots efforts to link impoverished communities in Indonesia to global carbon markets and pioneered community-based Qsheries and marine protected areas efforts. In 2008, he served as lead advisor on climate change and energy issues in Asia to former US President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative.

He has also worked with UNEP in Nairobi and established The Nature Conservancy’s Asia-PaciQc Forest Program.

A globally recognized authority on forests and landscape management, Mr Sizer holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in natural sciences and tropical forest ecology from the University of Cambridge, UK, and has served on many boards and advisory groups, including the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, UNEP, the Andean Center for Sustainable Development, the Rainforest Foundation and the Coalition in Support of Amazonian Peoples and their Environment.

“With the recent Paris Agreement underlining the crucial role forests play in fighting climate change, the world is keenly aware that we must work together to ensure forests are conserved and carefully managed for the survival of people and our planet,” said Daniel Katz, Rainforest Alliance founder and board chair.

“Nigel has seen first-hand the vital connection between sustainable land-use and forests. Now is the ideal time for a leader with his track record to lead the Rainforest Alliance at this critical point in our history, as we resolve to build on our mission to protect biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods around the globe.”

His appointment was approved by the Rainforest Alliance’s Board of Directors after an extensive search. He will be based in the Rainforest Alliance’s office in New York City.

The Rainforest Alliance is a global not for profit that works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers.