Our team and partners
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Denise Astoreca
El Boldo Reserve, Chile
Co-founder of Corporación Bosques de Zapallar, our project partner for Parque El Boldo, Chile. She was part of the board of Directors for over 10 years She is widely responsible for promoting and managing the reserve.
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Carolina Brown
Co-ordinator for Chile projects
Chilean author and photographer. Carolina manages Rainforest Concern's conservation projects in Chile. She liases with our project partners in Chile and communicates the projects to a wider audience.
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Mauricio Bustamante Holguín
Nebline Reserve, Ecuador
Director of Ecuadorian law firm Bustamante Holguín Abogados, Mauricio is Rainforest Concern's lawyer and legal representative in Ecuador, and brings his many years of experience and commitment across many aspects of law.
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Marco Cortés
Nasampulli Reserve, Chile
Marco is manager of the Nasampulli Reserve and responsible for its protection. Working with FORECOS foundation and the Universidad Austral de Chile, he focuses on ecology and restoration of the Araucaria forest relicts.
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Enrique Cruz
Nasampulli Reserve, Chile
Enrique is the executive Secretary of FORECOS foundation and with Marco Cortés coordinates the management of the Nasampulli reserve.
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José Cueva
Los Cedros, Ecuador
José is the co-ordinator of the Los Cedros Reserve. He helps coordinate Los Cedros Reserve, in particular the outreach work with communities and the long-term strategy of the Reserve. He has lived in the Intag area for many years and managed community projects and initiatives, including Rainforest Concern projects, for over 15 years.
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Sonja Dillmann
Neblina Reserve, Ecuador
Sonja is the project manager of the Neblina Reserve. She has been Rainforest Concern's project co-ordinator in Ecuador since 2012 and manages the Reserve from co-ordinating the forest guards, to overseeing the purchase of threatened land.
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Carlos Fernandez
Urpiano Turtle project, Costa Rica
An environmental lawyer, Carlos Fernandez has worked with Rainforest Concern since 2007. First as our legal representative for Pacuare Reserve and now as manager of Urpiano turtle conservation project.
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Encar Garcia
Jaguar Rescue Centre, Costa Rica
After obtaining a degree in Biology from the University of Barcelona, Encar spent 15 years working with primates and mammals in various habitats, including 8 years at the renowned Barcelona Zoo. In 2001, Encar met Sandro Alviani in Costa Rica and together, they established the Jaguar Rescue Centre in 2008.
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Cristi Gherghiceanu
Executive president, ADEPT
With project co-ordination and financial control, Christi provides overall leadership of ADEPT, overseeing daily operations and ‘building organisational capacity’. Cristi graduated from Brasov University in IT, economics and accounting and has worked for rural development NGOs since 2000. He has been guide and translator for numerous World Bank missions, and speaks Romanian, English and German.
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Mariana Gómez Soto
Yaigoje Apaporis, Colombia
Coordinator of the AAA corridor project at our partner organization Gaia Amazonas, Mariana works with indigenous communities of the Colombian Amazon and with civil and governmental organizations.
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Javier Guerra
Rainforest Concern Carbon spatial analysis assessor
Javier is a Doctor in Forest Sciences from Universidad Austral de Chile and Universidad de Concepción. He is an expert in carbon measurements of aerial/root biomass and remote sensing, and he has supported Rainforest concern since 2016 with GIS Development in Nasampulli and other projects in Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Currently, he directs his GIS technology company Campodigital.
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Dr Paulina Hechenleitner
Dry Forest Project, Peru
Paulina is the project research leader coordinator for the Equatorial dry forests, Peru. Plant taxonomist with a PhD in systematics and biogeography, specialist in Chilean flora. Honorary Conservation Associate at the RBG Edinburgh, with a career in both botany and horticulture.
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Francisco von Hildebrand
Yaigoje Apaporis, Colombia
Director of Gaia Amazonas, Francisco is an expert in local development strategies and intercultural environmental management.
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Dr Martín von Hildebrand
Yaigoje Apaporis, Colombia
Ethnologist, anthropologist and founder of our project partner Gaia Amazonas, Martín von Hildebrand's work to secure indigenous rights has led to more than 26 million hectares being officially returned to indigenous people in Colombia.
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Bárbara Barrera and Johnny Hurtado
Urpiano Turtle Project, Costa Rica
Bárbara and Johhny established the Urpiano beach protection project in Costa Rica in 2015. They are responsible for protection of the beach and monitoring nesting and hatching of leatherback turtles.
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Laly Joseph
Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, India
Senior plant conservationist at our partner organization Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Laly specializes in the plant conservation of Asclepiadaceaea, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Balsaminaceae and Gesneriaceae.
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Suma Keloth
Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, India
Senior Plant Conservationist at our partner organization Gurukula Botanica Sanctuary, Suma specializes in Orchidaceae, Araceae, Zingiberaceae, carnivorous and ornamental plant species.
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Professor Antonio Lara
Advisory Board
Director and founder of our project partner Fundación FORECOS for the Nasampulli Reserve in Chile. Professor Lara at Universidad Austral de Chile specialises in documenting the ecology of native forests of Chile.
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Guillermo Morales
CBZ, Chile
President of the board of our partner organisation Corporación Bosque de Zapallar (CBZ) in Chile. He has been involved with El Boldo since it very beginning in 2010.
He is also the founding partner of the law firm Morales & Besa in Santiago. -
Nat Page
Trustee
Nat has been working in Romanian rural development since 1998 and is a director of ADEPT. After 15 years in H.M. Diplomatic Service, he now divides his time between managing his organic beef farm in southwest England and promoting conservation of the High Nature Value farmed landscapes of Romania.
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Manuela Peláez
Fundación TierrAmar, Colombia
Manuela is the founder and director of the Colombian organisation, Fundación TierrAmar which aims to address the lack of environmental education within rural schools across Colombia.
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Christoph & Barbara Promberger
Fundatia Conservation Carpathia, Romania
Founders of the Carpathia Conservation Foundation, Christoph and Barbara are wildlife biologists who have lived and worked in Romania for over 15 years. They have been directly responsible for protecting 21,000 hectares of Carpathian wilderness.
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Carmen Rosa Ringeling
El Boldo Reserve, Chile
Carmen Rosa is the executive director of CBZ, our project partner for Parque El Boldo, which protects coastal Chilean habitat.
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Gabriel Rodríguez Correa
El Boldo Reserve, Chile
Gabriel has been working with Corporación Bosques de Zapallar from it's very beginnings as head of Parque El Boldo's trail network team. He is also in charge of maintenance and develops projects in other conservation areas.
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Suprabha Seshan
Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, India
Conservationist Suprabha Seshan manages restoration, education and outreach at GBS, Rainforest Concern's partner project. In 2006 she won UK’s top environmental prize, the Whitley Award.
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Jurgen Stein
Bosque de las Madres, Costa Rica
Jurgen is a founding member of the organisation Fundación Cuencas de Limón (FCL) which is working to protect and expand the Bosque de las Madres Biological Corridor. Jurgen also established the Selva Bananito ecolodge with his sister, Sofia, which has achieved world-wide recognition as an model for Costa Rican ecotourism.
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Sofia Stein
Bosque de las Madres, Costa Rica
Sofia is the Executive Director of our project partner Fundación Cuencas de Limón, which was established as a non-profit organisation in 1996. Sofia also established the Selva Bananito ecolodge with her brother, Jurgen, which has achieved world-wide recognition as an model for Costa Rican ecotourism.
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Carlos Zorrilla
DECOIN, Ecuador
Carlos Zorilla has dedicated his life to protecting Ecuadorian cloud forests and in particular fighting against the ongoing threat of mining. He is the founder of the environmental organisation DECOIN, which conserves the unique biodiversity of the Intag region.
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Andressa Scabin
Instituto Juruá, Brazil
Andressa Scabin is a biologist with a master's and PhD in Ecology, specializing in tropical forest ecology. She is one of the co-founders of the Instituto Juruá and has previously served as the communications director, executive director, and coordinator of collaborative education and community strengthening.
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Hugo C M Costa
Instituto Juruá, Brazil
Hugo Costa is a biologist with a master's degree in Zoology from the Emílio Goeldi Museum, and is currently a doctoral student in Ecology at the National Institute for Amazon Research. He has been working for 13 years and in the mid Juruá since 2013.
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João Campos Silva
Instituto Juruá Brazil
JB as he is called by his friends is an ecologist with a broad interest in the conservation of tropical social-ecological systems. João has been working in the Amazon since 2008, focusing on biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, protected areas, and community management of natural resources. J
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Darwin Garcia
Dry Forest Project, Perú
Darwin is a Peruvian biologist and ornithologist with an MSc in Ecology and brings his many years of experience in biodiversity conservation and monitoring biodiversity. He coordinates the biodiversity surveys for the Dry Forest Project in Perú together with our community work.