Mr. Sophathilath’s key areas of experiences include community-based forest management, watershed management, participatory protected area management, project design, M&E, and environmental studies and impact assessments. He assumed his current role as Director of Planning and Cooperation, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR in 2016, where he is responsible for translating forest policy and strategy into action plans, monitoring the implementation of projects and international cooperation.
Previously, he worked for the Nam Theun 2 Watershed Management and Protection Authority (WMPA), serving as Executive Director of the WMPA Secretariat. Prior to that he worked for National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), MAF and at the Department of Forestry (DOF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). Mr. Sophathilath holds a Master of Environmental Studies from Newcastle University, Australia and a Bachelor’s in Forestry from the Forest Engineering School in Schwerin.