Robert Simpson is the Manager of the FAO FLEGT Programme. Before joining FAO’s Forestry Department in 2008, Simpson worked for the United States Embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar and later for a conservation and forest management NGO in the country, working primarily with the Malagasy government to improve forest management strategies and law enforcement in several of its regional offices. Simpson has also worked for the United States Forest Service as the Liberia Forest Initiative Program Coordinator to support the Liberian Government forest sector reform process following the UN Security Council-imposed sanctions.