Speakers
Meriel Robson, Soil Association Certification
Meriel has worked for Soil Association Certification for over 20 years, delivering FSC certification worldwide. She has led forest management audits in a wide range of countries across Europe, Africa, and South-east Asia, including for state forest services, private owners and managers, and community forestry projects. Meriel has also been responsible for delivery of Soil Association’s training programmes and technical advice on forest management certification, and has been a member of FSC International since 2006.
Markus Pfannkuch, Precious Woods
Markus worked as a forest worker in Switzerland before earning an MSc in International Forest Industries from the Bern University of Applied Sciences. He first joined Precious Woods as a forest manager in Gabon. Today, as Chief Sustainability Officer, Markus oversees all forest operations, certification, and sustainability at Precious Woods. He also holds an EMBA degree from HEC Paris.
Olivia Scholtz, High Conservation Value Network
Olivia has over 20 years of on-the-ground conservation experience in Central Africa, South America and Australia. She has led landscape-level projects in priority conservation landscapes, working in collaboration with national authorities, the private sector and local communities. With the High Conservation Value Network, she engages with a range of sustainability schemes and initiatives to support the uptake of the HCV Approach. This includes developing tailored implementation guidance and providing training for land managers, on the identification, management and monitoring of HCVs.
Maggie Fitzherbert, Zoological Society of London
Maggie is a sustainability specialist who has been working on deforestation-free supply chains since 2017. She is currently at Zoological Society London (ZSL), leading engagement on forest-risk commodities with producers, businesses and financial institutions. Before joining ZSL, Maggie worked in FSC certification, as well as assessment and advisory services related to legal sourcing. She has a background in environmental geochemistry and has previously been a researcher in water and soil contamination, focused on the impacts of industrial activities.
Marcus Colchester, Forest Peoples Programme
Marcus Colchester is English and received his doctorate in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford. He was Founder Director of the Forest Peoples Programme and now acts as Senior Policy Advisor. Marcus has over 35 years’ experience working with forest peoples in the humid tropics. His expertise is in indigenous peoples, social and political ecology, standard setting, human rights, environment, development, land tenure, policy reform advocacy, ‘Free, Prior and Informed Consent’ and conflict resolution. Marcus has worked intensively in support of forest peoples’ rights in relation to logging, plantations, palm oil, extractive industries, dams, colonisation and protected areas.
Event Details
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Date: Friday 14 October
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Time: 09:00-10:30
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Room: UPDATED - Bouganville (opposite the Hibiscus Room - Ground floor)
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Format: Hybrid
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Language: English, French, Spanish