Mathias studied International Forest Management at Göttingen University and spent much of his professional career in South East Asia in particular Cambodia and Indonesia. He joined GIZ in 2013 working as an advisor on forest and climate policies covering topics such as REDD+ and forest governance. Currently he is advisor in the IKI funded Global Project Mainstreaming Ecosystem-based Adaptation. He is also the coordinator of the EbA theme under the PANORAMA Solutions partnership and platform.