Philippe Mayaux started in 1988 as a researcher working on the monitoring of natural resources in Africa from Earth observation. He joined the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in 1995, working successively on tropical deforestation, land-cover mapping and biodiversity-related information systems, with a particular focus on Central Africa. Currently he coordinates the definition and implementation of biodiversity-related policies and programmes, in particular in line with the studies Larger than Elephants and Larger than Tigers, at the Directorate General “International Cooperation and Development” of the European Commission. He has more than twenty five years of experience working at the European Institutions, including with the Institute for Environment and Sustainability at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. He holds a PhD in forestry from the Université Catholique de Louvain.