Ricardo L. Calderon is a forester by profession who has served in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for 33 years. He started as a field Forester, Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO), Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO), Regional Technical Director for Forestry, Regional Executive Director, Bureau Director and most recently as Assistant Secretary. He had held positions as the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines designate for Staff Bureaus, and later as the Assistant Secretary for Climate Change and Director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau in concurrent capacity handling programs and policies in protected areas and biodiversity conservation, coastal and marine management, and wildlife resources conservation before joining the Secretariat in January 2021.
Ricardo has led several important national programs as National Coordinator of the National Greening Program (NGP) as the Director of the Forest Management Bureau, Project Director of the JICA-funded Forest Management Program (FMP), ADB-funded Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP). He also headed the implementation of the USAID B+Wiser Program in the Philippines that resulted to the full implementation and adoption of LAWIN Forest Protection and Biodiversity Monitoring System being used by our Forest Protection Officers nationwide with full investment from the Philippine Government. He holds a master’s degree in forestry majoring in forest resources management with a minor in silviculture and forest influences from University of the Philippines.