People need Nature; Nature doesn’t need people””. With this slogan Conservation International hits the nail on the head: we depend on Nature, and are part of it. Unfortunately that realization has drifted away from our day-to-day operations and we have done a poor job in protecting what is sustaining us as mankind.
That conviction has shaped my professional and personal live, the choices I made vis-à-vis jobs, and directions I’ve chosen in life how to engage with society. I aspire to make this world a little bit better by the time I leave. I worked in and for nature for 30 years now, most recently with land users, companies and organizations to improve their performance when it comes to Natural Capital and the sustainable use of it by enhancing practices, gaining access to finance, and taking entire landscapes into account and the global commons.
Through my job with Tropenbos International I now focus on Business & Finance as these players hold an important key to trigger the paradigm shift towards more sustainable land-use and landscapes that include resilient forests; that helps us to become climate and future proof.
Specific expertise includes: Connecting business with the environment, local people with international processes and financial institutes, and vice versa, No pretences, no games, just fair business.