Rebecca Ashley Asare

Rebecca Ashley Asare is the Director of Programs and Research at Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC), in Accra, Ghana. She is a continental leader on cocoa agroforestry and REDD+, and is well-known for her determination and commitment to achieving impacts through social-ecological research, collaborative processes, and integrated natural resource management approaches. She has extensive experience in climate-smart agriculture, PES models, community-based conservation, landscape governance, and landscape standards. For over five years, Rebecca supported the Government of Ghana to develop its ground-breaking Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Program, which is the first commodity-based emissions reductions program in the world. Since 2018, she has partnered with private sector cocoa companies to implement landscape approaches to reduce deforestation and improve sustainability across multiple sites in Ghana. With over 20 years of experience living and working in Africa, Rebecca is highly skilled at engaging with people at all levels—from the community to the national—and at sharing information through writing, presentations, and trainings in a manner that is understandable and relevant. She received her MESc and PhD from Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and since 2005 has called Ghana home.