Marcel J Silvius is the current Country Representatives in Indonesia to Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). He was born in 1958 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, studied Biology and Nature Management at the State University of Utrecht and at the Agriculture University Wageningen, graduating Judicium cum laude. He started his professional career as wetland ecologist in Malaysia in 1985 with Interwader and WWF Malaysia, and was one of the pioneers of shorebird studies in South-east Asia. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Asian Wetland Bureau (AWB) in 1986, as he led the establishment of programs and offices of AWB in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and China.
He was the National Director of Asian Wetland Bureau Indonesia between 1987 and 1995. In 1995-1996 he was Technical Programme Director of Wetlands International Asia-Pacific. After the establishment of Wetlands International, Marcel moved in 1997 to its headquarters in Wageningen, The Netherlands, from where he established Wetlands International programs and offices in the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and contributed to the program development of the organization world-wide. He developed and managed global programs on ‘Wetlands and Livelihoods’ and ‘Wetlands and Climate’ and has been Wetlands International’s key representative in the Ramsar Convention’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel, the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil and the Responsibly Produced Peat Foundation. Globally recognized as a leading peatland and wetland conservationist, he is also an active member of the International Mire Conservation Group, International Peat Society and Councillor of Honour of Wetlands International.
In his spare time, Marcel is a fervent field biologist, with over 70 scientific publications, reports and articles on wetland and water bird conservation in Asia, busy with nature (and macro-)photography, study of Odonata, and enjoys sports (squash, badminton, sailing and diving). He plays various music instruments, including the Sundanese bamboo flute (Kecapi Suling).