Agus Budi

Dr R. Agus Budi Santosa, S.Hut, M.T, is a senior forestry professional with over 25 years of experience in forest resource management, conservation and policy implementation in Indonesia. He currently Serves as the Director of Forest Resource Inventory and Monitoring at the Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesia.

Alue Dohong

Mr Alue Dohong is the FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific. A national of Indonesia, Mr Dohong holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Management from Queensland University, Australia, as well as a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the School of Geography of the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science in Economic Development from Palangka Raya University in Indonesia. Before joining FAO, Mr Dohong has been serving as Senior Advisor to the Minister for Environment and Head of the Environment Control Agency of the Republic of Indonesia from December 2024. From October 2019 to October 2024, he was Vice-Minister in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia. Mr Dohong started his career in 1994 as Lecturer Staff at the University of Palangka Raya, Indonesia, specialising in Peatland Restoration and Environment, and Sustainable Development within the Master’s Programme of Natural Resources and Environment. From 2003 to 2011, he was Kalimantan Site Coordinator of the Wetlands International-Indonesia Programme in Palangka Raya, Indonesia. From 2011 to 2013, he worked as Expert in the Central Kalimantan REDD+ Liaison Office. From 2016 to September 2019, he was Deputy Head for Construction, Operation and Maintenance (COM) for the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) in Indonesia.

Andry Napitupulu

Andry Napitupulu is the SE Asia Lead for Nature, Biodiversity, and Marine Environment at the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), based in British Embassy Jakarta. His role is a Southeast Asia regional function to deliver UK objectives on nature, biodiversity and marine in the region. He joined the Embassy since 2018 to work on sustainable forest management across Indonesia. Nature-based solutions is one of his area of interest to deliver UK commitments in nature and biodiversity into the region and working together with practitioners, academia, private sectors and governments. Prior working with UK Government, Andry has been working over a decade on climate change adaptation and disaster management across Indonesia, including mainstreaming nature-based solution into policy decision-making processes. Andry gained his bachelor's degree in Spatial Planning and awarded German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) scholarship in Public Policy and Good Governance in 2009.

Ane Alencar

Ane Alencar is the Science Director at IPAM – Amazon Environmental Research Institute. She holds a degree in Geography from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), a Master’s in Remote Sensing and GIS from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources Conservation from the University of Florida. For over three decades, she has studied fire dynamics, deforestation, and forest degradation in the Amazon and Cerrado, focusing on their links to climate change. In 2018, she was recognized by Fire magazine as one of the world’s leading women in fire science. She co-leads MapBiomas’ Cerrado and Fire initiatives and has developed social technologies for environmental governance, earning recognition from Folha de S.Paulo and the Veja-se Award. Ane also serves as member on the Amazon Scientific Panel, fellow of the Fulbright Amazonia program, and one of the coordinators of the Climate Observatory network, she was recently named one of 14 global female leaders in Machine Learning and Earth Observation by the Radiant Earth Foundation.

Anne Branthomme

Anne Branthomme is a Forestry Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), where she works on the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA). She serves as the main FRA contact for francophone countries, oversees two forest-related SDG indicators, and leads efforts to improve primary forest reporting. Anne has extensive experience in national forest and land monitoring systems, field inventories, remote sensing, REDD+, forest reporting and capacity development.

Anssi Pekkarinen 

Anssi Pekkarinen is a Senior Forestry Officer at FAO and coordinates the Global Forest Resources Assessment. He has 30 years of experience in forest inventories, remote sensing, and geographic information systems, and is a founding member of FAO’s Open Foris initiative.

Bashara Abubakari

Bashara Abubakari is the Technical Services Manager at CERSGIS, Ghana, West Africa. His expertise lies in applying Earth Observation technologies to forest monitoring, environmental risk mitigation, and ecosystem management. He has supported the development of geospatial solutions that inform decision-making on land use, artisanal mining impacts, and climate resilience. His work emphasizes data visualization and stakeholder engagement as powerful tools for raising awareness, inspiring action, and driving sustainable environmental change.

Budiharto

Budiharto is an Associate Expert Policy Analyst for the Ministry of Environment in Indonesia where he coordinated the MRV working group. Previously he worked as the Head of the Sub-Directorate for GHG Reduction Inventory (IGRK) and Head of the Sub-Directorate for GHG Reduction Verification, with the primary task of coordinating the National GHG Inventory and MRV processes for REDD+ within the UNFCCC and the Indonesia-Norway bilateral project.

Carly Green

Dr Carly Green is a climate specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in greenhouse gas mitigation, land use, forest monitoring, and carbon accounting. She plays a leading role in international guidance in her role as Content Manager for the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), bridging science and policy, supporting governments and organisations integrate Earth observation data into national forest monitoring systems, greenhouse gas inventories, and climate reporting frameworks. Her expertise lies in making complex technical material accessible and actionable for decision-makers, thereby strengthening international efforts to monitor and reduce emissions from the land sector. 

Christophe Sannier

Dr Christophe Sannier is a Senior Business Development Adviser at GAF AG Munich, Germany with over 30 years of experience in the development of Land Resource Monitoring applications from Remote Sensing and in situ data integration. Currently, he is among other things managing the ESA World Agro Commodities project.

Chad Babcock

As a member of the forestry, geospatial analysis and remote sensing communities, Chad is interested in developing geostatistical approaches using remotely sensed information to predict natural resource characteristics and address pressing questions related to their inventory, monitoring and management. His research work to date supports an overarching objective to contribute novel methodological and application-oriented analyses to the growing body of research implementing statistically rigorous spatial and spatio-temporal analysis methods in natural resources and remote sensing through collaboration with scientists across the natural resource fields, ecology, remote sensing and statistics.

Claudio Almeida

Dr Claudio Almeida is a Brazilian agronomist with 33 years' experience in forest monitoring. 21 years’ experience working as a researcher at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). He has four years’ experience of living and working in the Amazon, where he managed the Regional Center of the Amazon for the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Claudio completed a PhD in Landscape Analysis at the University of Montpellier in 2016. Since 2018, he has held the post of Coordinator of the BiomasBR Program, leading a team of 100 technical specialists who support the Prodes, Deter and TerraClass projects for the National Forest Monitoring Systems of Brazil, as well as the Measurement, Reporting and Verification, Suppression of Natural Vegetation, Early Warning Alerts, Restoration Monitoring and Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring in deforested areas. This data provides Brazil with a complete and transparent monitoring and reporting system.

Daniel Castillo

Daniel is an Agricultural Engineer with specializations in Environmental Management and Public Management, with over 20 years of experience using advanced Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems for processing and interpreting satellite imagery to analyze land cover, particularly forest ecosystems in Peru. For the past nine years, he has led the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Unit at the National Forest Conservation Program for Climate Change Mitigation under the Ministry of Environment of Peru. He currently oversees the development and implementation of the Forest Cover Monitoring Module (MMCB), which is integrated into both the National Environmental Information System (SINIA) and the National Forest and Wildlife Information System (SNIFFS). He also leads the implementation of the GEOBOSQUES platform, which provides open access to MMCB information for any user. The platform has been recognized as a best practice in open data for public management in Peru and has held ISO 9001 certification for the past four years for its processes in generating information on annual forest cover loss monitoring and early warning alerts.

Daniela Requena Suarez

Dr Daniela Requena Suarez is one of the coordinators of the R&D Component of the Global Forest Observations Initiative, supporting the maturity assessment and transfer of emerging forest monitoring methods into national systems. She is a tropical forest monitoring and conservation researcher based at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences with expertise in integrating national forest inventory data and remote sensing products to improve estimates of aboveground biomass stocks and sinks for national greenhouse gas inventories (NGHGIs). Her research focuses on understanding forest disturbance and recovery processes and the spatial distribution of forest carbon stocks to inform policy-relevant and adaptable monitoring systems. She has led and contributed to diverse research initiatives across Europe and Latin America, including projects with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Wageningen University and Research (WUR) and the Environmental Change Institute (ECI). Daniela’s work bridges ecological research, forest monitoring, and policy implementation to support climate mitigation and conservation strategies in tropical forests worldwide.

Diane Davies

Diane Davies is the operations manager for NASA’s LANCE system and manager for the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). Diane’s particular focus and interest is on data accessibility; specifically, how satellite data and derived products can be made more accessible to a host of end-users. Prior to joining LANCE in 2012, Diane worked at the University of Maryland and for the UK Department for International Development.

Duarte Oom

Duarte Oom is a forester, a fire scientist and expert in fire analysis using satellite imagery. He holds a Ph.D. in global pyrogeography modeling, with a career dedicated to advancing fire science through Earth Observation (EO) technologies. He currently serves as a Fire Management Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and before that as a Project Officer at the Disaster Risk Management Unit of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and as a fire researcher for more than 17 years at the Forest Research Centre in Lisbon.

Dulce Mejia

Dulce Mejia is an Agricultural Engineer specialized in renewable natural resources and currently serves as responsible for the management of coniferous and mixed forests and Coordinator of the National Forest Inventory at the National Forest Institute (INAB) of Guatemala. With over 20 years of experience in forestry training, extension, and monitoring, she began her career at INAB in 2019 as a forestry training and extension delegate, supporting forest management planning, silvicultural practices, and reforestation in collaboration with civil society and partner institutions. Since 2022, Dulce has led the coordination of Guatemala’s second National Forest Inventory, working closely with an institutional committee under INAB’s Directorate of Forest Management and Restoration. She contributes to advancing the national forest monitoring system in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and other key institutions. Dulce holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and is committed to strengthening evidence-based decision-making for sustainable forest management in Guatemala.

Ellen Bruzelius Backer

Ellen is a political scientist and policy director of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative, where she oversees the initiative’s work on forest monitoring, carbon accounting and environmental integrity at large. She has previously worked in Norway’s Environment Agency with Norway’s greenhouse gas inventory on the sectors of land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) and agriculture, and been a part of the secretariat for Norway’s 2050 Climate Change commission, which explored pathways for Norway’s transition to a low emission society.

Ellie Peneva-Reed

Ellie Peneva-Reed is the Country-Led Planning (CLP) Coordinator for the GFOI. She leads efforts to align GFOI partners’ international support with countries’ national priorities for embedding National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS). She oversees the implementation of the CLP program in ten partner countries, guiding national teams planning and targeted follow-up to strengthen forest monitoring capacities. A geographer with over 15 years of experience in MRV, she specializes in capacity development and international coordination for sustainable forest management. Prior to joining GFOI, she contributed to forest carbon monitoring and climate policy projects at the World Bank Group and the USGS SilvaCarbon Program.

Fiona Stringer

Fiona Stringer is a Senior Programme Manager leading on the UK-FAO AIM4Forests Programme for the UK's International Forest Unit, a joint unit between the UK Government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She is the UK lead representative to the GFOI. She has worked on international climate for the past six years, including specialising on REDD+ programmes and policy. She most recently spent one year on secondment to the Food and Agriculture Organization as a forest monitoring advisor. Fiona has a BSc in Environmental Science and an MSc in Climate Science.

Gaston Hedwigino Tahintsoa

Gaston Hedwigino Tahintsoa is an agronomist and forestry engineer from Madagascar specializing in geomatics and wildfire management. Since 2019, he works as a researcher at LLandDev Research Lab (Land, Landscape and Development) and serves as a fire remote sensing scientist at the Regional Eastern Africa Fire Monitoring Resource Center (REAFMRC). He has extensive experience in GIS and remote sensing applications for fire monitoring, land restoration, and sustainable landscape management.

Haruni Krisnawati

Haruni Krisnawati is the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Forestry for Climate Change, Republic of Indonesia. She previously served as Senior Advisor for Energy at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and as Principal Researcher and Professor in forestry and climate change. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne. Her research experiences focused on forest management, carbon assessment, and MRV for climate mitigation in the FOLU sector. She contributed as a Lead Author of the 2019 IPCC Guidelines Refinement, served on the IPCC EFDB Editorial Board (LULUCF), and is part of Indonesia’s delegation to the UNFCCC and the GFOI Advisory Group.

Iciar Alberdi

Iciar Alberdi is a Senior Researcher in the Institute of Forest Research, Spanish National Research Council. Her research lines are forest monitoring, forest biodiversity and conservation. Co-author of more than 60 scientific articles, and have actively participated in several European and national projects aiming to improve forest information. Chair of the European National Forest Inventory Network and member of other national international networks on long-term and large-scale monitoring. 

Inge Jonckheere

Dr Inge Jonckheere is the Head of the Green Solutions Division at ESA (Frascati, Italy). She is in charge of EO4Society including earth system science, applications, digital innovation and industrial competitiveness, with main actual interest in the use of earth observation for sustainable environmental applications.

Israr Albar

Israr Albar is Deputy Director of Forest Fire Management at Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia. He has experienced in forestry since 1994 and forest fire management in Indonesia for 25 years. He assigned as Head of Climate Change Office for Sumatera Region (2017-2019) with almost 1.000 forest firefighters (Manggala Agni). He involved in developing SEA FDRS, Forest Fire Monitoring System (SiPongi), Indofire, SIPP Karhutla. He also involved in ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution since 2004, represented NFP for fire and haze related meeting in ASEAN and negotiator for COP UNFCCC since 2016. He led the cooperation project with ITTO, JICA, KFS related to forest fire management in Indonesia. As Coordinator for Southeast Asia Regional Research and Information Network (SEARRIN) related to fire under GOFC-GOLD, he also collaborator in several research project with Columbia University, South Dakota State University, Michigan State University, California Institute of Technology funded by NASA (2009-2026), APEC Climate Center (2013-2015).

Javier García Pérez

Javier García Pérez (also published as Javier G. P. Gamarra) is a Forestry Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. He co-leads the uncertainties thematic area within the Research & Development component of the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI). In his role at FAO, he focuses on providing statistical robustness to estimates of forest resources, particularly in regard to countries’ national and international reports, integrating Earth observation into national forest monitoring systems, while communicating the need for uncertainties as sources of information. He holds a PhD in Forest Sciences and has co-authored numerous scientific publications on population ecology, biomass estimation and the develop-ment of approaches to tackle uncertainties in the forestry sector.

John Little

John Little is a Fire Information Manager with Natural Resources Canada’s Wildfire Intelligence and Predictive Services. With 25+ years in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and data service management, John works to plan, develop, and manage data products and services for the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. He also contributes to the development and integration of national data standards to support consistent and effective wildfire information sharing.

José Armando Alanís-de la Rosa

José Armando Alanís-de la Rosa is the Manager of the National Forest Monitoring System at Mexico’s National Forestry Commission. He is responsible for implementing the National Forest and Soils Inventory and supports the development of both the National MRV System and the Satellite-Based Forest Monitoring System. Additionally, he is part of Mexico’s FRA National Correspondent team and was the first Chair of the Latin America and Caribbean National Forests Inventories Network, currently serving on its Steering Committee.

Julian Fox

Dr Julian Christian Fox is an Australian forester with 25 years’ experience in forest monitoring and 7 years’ experience living and working in developing countries managing international projects in Papua New Guinea and Zambia. Prior to professional career, Julian completed a PhD in forest monitoring from the University of Melbourne in 2000. Since 2017, Julian has held the post of Team Leader, Forest Monitoring in FAO’s Forestry Division leading a team of 50 technical specialists supporting programs and projects spanning support to National Forest Monitoring Systems; Measurement, Reporting and Verification; Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring; National Forest Inventory; and Forest Monitoring for transparent commodity supply chains through capacity development and technology transfer based on open source data platforms under the Open Foris initiative.

Karima Abrous

Ms Karima Abrous is an Engineer in Ecology and Environment, specializing in Forestry. She holds the position of Head of the Forest and Alfa Inventory Office at the General Directorate of Forests (DGF), under the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fisheries (MADRP) in Algeria. In this role, she is responsible for monitoring and coordinating activities related to forest and alfa inventories at the national level. Since 2021, she has represented Algeria as the National Correspondent for the FRA 2025 Report. She has also actively participated in the working group responsible for the forestry sector’s contribution to the development of the Third National Communication (TNC) and the First Biennial Update Report, as well as the National Inventory Report (NIR) on Greenhouse Gases.

Karen O'Connor

Dr Karen O'Connor is a scientist and strategist with nearly three decades of experience driving scientific impact at scale across government, private, and philanthropic sectors. Karen is a Founding Principal of the Earth Fire Alliance, a global, community-led non-profit organisation aiming to deliver transformative real-time data from all wildfires on Earth. Prior to establishing the Earth Fire Alliance, Karen dedicated a significant portion of her career to driving outcome-focused innovation programs in collaboration with front-line operators through her roles at the Minderoo Foundation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Department of Defence.

Kustiyo

Kustiyo is a senior researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), specializing in remote sensing data processing and analysis, particularly in forest mapping and monitoring. He serves as the team leader for remote sensing processing and analysis in support of the Indonesia National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS), which utilizes remote sensing data to produce forest maps of Indonesia. He contributed to Indonesia’s National Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) document on deforestation and forest degradation. Currently, he supports Indonesia’s forest monitoring efforts by preparing analysis-ready datasets and conducting analyses using low-, medium-, and high-resolution remote sensing data.

Lisa Hanle

Lisa is a consultant to the IPCC Task Force on National GHG Inventories Technical Support Unit, focusing on the upgrade of the IPCC Inventory Software to support Paris Agreement reporting. She has been actively engaged in climate transparency for over 25 years, working at the facility, corporate, national and international levels.  While at U.S. EPA, Lisa supported development of the U.S. GHG Inventory and served as an international expert reviewer for national GHG inventories under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She continued this work from a different perspective, supporting the international reporting and review processes as a programme officer at the UNFCCC secretariat, and ultimately as the Team Lead coordinating the transition to the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the Paris Agreement.

Marco Piazza

Marco Piazza is Forestry Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) in Thailand. He has twenty years of experience in the field of forestry and natural resources management with core expertise in forest monitoring and National Forest Inventories (NFIs).

Maria Jaramillo

Maria F. Jaramillo is a Colombian anthropologist and member of the GFOI team for the CLP (Country-Led Planning) Programme of Support, where she leads the knowledge management component. She designs and facilitates collective knowledge sharing exercises, national and multi-stakeholder workshops, and “Connect and Reflect” virtual and in-person spaces that capture lessons, recommendations, and insights to strengthen both the CLP Programme of Support and country-led processes. Her career spans over 35 years working with Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant, and rural communities across Latin America and beyond. Deeply engaged in conservation and sustainable development in high-biodiversity regions such as the Amazon and the Chocó-Darién Ecoregion, she brings expertise in community-based forest monitoring, climate change, and rights-based territorial governance.

Marieke Sandker

Marieke Sandker is a Forestry Officer at FAO with over 15 years of international experience in forest monitoring, carbon accounting, and capacity development. She leads technical support on measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of forest emissions and removals, and has supported several countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Marieke holds an MSc from Wageningen University and a PhD in Forest Ecology from the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Muri Soares

Muri Soares is a Mozambican forest ecologist who holds a Master’s degree in Biodiversity Conservation and Management from Eduardo Mondlane University and has over 10 years of experience as a carbon accounting and MRV specialist focusing on the land-use sector. He has played a leading role in Mozambique’s engagement with UNFCCC processes, REDD+, and forest monitoring. At the National Fund for Sustainable Development (FNDS), he coordinated the production of Mozambique’s first FREL submission and the REDD+ Technical Annexes, while leading the establishment of the national network of permanent forest sampling plots. His work at FNDS strengthened the country’s institutional capacity to measure, report, and verify GHG emissions and removals, access climate finance, and enhance transparency in mitigation efforts.

Naikoa Aguilar Amuchastegui

Naikoa Aguilar Amuchastegui is a Colombian Biologist, with M.SC in tropical forest management and conservation of biodiversity, and a PhD in Remote sensing, with 30 years of experience in forest and biodiversity monitoring. Naikoa is a translational scientist seeking to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world practical applications. He worked for 15 years at WWF on sustainable forest management and REDD+ MRV. Naikoa joined the World Bank in 2022 as Senior Climate Change Specialist, where he supports the design and implementation of emissions reductions programs MRV processes. Naikoa is a member of the GFOI leads group.

Natalia Málaga

Dr Natalia Málaga is a forest and carbon inventory specialist with extensive experience in integrating national forest inventory data with remote sensing-derived biomass information to improve carbon stock estimation for carbon accounting and greenhouse gas reporting. Her research focuses on reducing uncertainties in biomass estimates for reporting purposes and assessing user needs to enhance the effective use of remote sensing-based biomass data in national and international policy contexts. She has served in technical and advisory roles for organizations including the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Peruvian Ministry of Environment, contributing to emission factor development, REDD+ implementation, and national carbon inventory systems. Currently a scientist at the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Natalia co-leads the GFOI R&D Priority of Biomass and Emission Factor Estimation.

Neha Hunka

Neha Hunka is the Forest Applications Scientist of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Rome. In her role at ESA, she is the technical officer of projects employing Earth Observation data to forest monitoring and carbon estimation. She supports methodological developments in support of Carbon Markets and integrating Earth observation into national forest monitoring systems. She earned a PhD in 2016 in Spaceborne Radar for mapping Forest and Land Use changes. She works directly with CEOS agencies and is committed to playing an important role for linking space agencies to global climate policy today.

Oala Iuda

Oala Iuda is a Papua New Guinea GIS and Remote Sensing expert with 18 years’ experience in forest and land use mapping and 7 years’ experience working in conservation (WWF) and 11 years with JICA, PNG UN-FAO and PNGFA. Oala completed a Masters in GIS and Remote Sensing focusing on forest and land use change assessment at the PNG University of Technology in 2016. Since 2013, Oala worked as a Local Consultant for PNGFA Forest Basemap Improvement project under JICA, and from 2016 to 2022 as a MRV and SLMS Consultant under the PNG UN-FAO’s NFI project; Oala has a 1 month course certificate in Carbon Accounting attained from the University of California, San Diego campus in 2013; Oala contributed to the PNG country reporting instruments such as FREL, BUR 1 and 2  (LULUCF sections) which are required by Climate Change Development Authority of PNG to report on behalf of PNG to UNFCCC; Oala also contributed to the development PNG’s rapid land use assessment protocols using FAO’s Open Foris suite of open-source applications; Oala also assists with the planning of NFI and partially plays a role in the administration of the field data using FAO’s newly introduced Open Foris Arena software; Oala participated for the QAQC of the TFFF pilot assessment; finally, Oala along with chosen PNGFA Officers to collaborate with FAO-World Bank GEDI project on Above Ground Biomass (ABG) modeling using NFI data, a capacity-building initiative for Papua New Guinea Forest Authority.

Örjan Jonsson

Örjan Jonsson is a Forestry Officer at FAO and coordinator of the FRA country reporting process. Örjan has almost 25 years of experience with FRA reporting.

Peter Sirayo

Mr Peter Sirayo is a Conservator of Forests working for the Kenya Forest Service. He is seasoned forestry and climate professional with over a decade of experience in sustainable forest management, carbon markets, and landscape restoration. He currently serves as the Technical Lead and Coordinator for REDD+ Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) activities in Kenya. Peter also coordinates activities of the FAO-led AIM4Forests initiative in Kenya, advancing innovations in forest monitoring to strengthen transparency and unlock climate finance. Passionate about data-driven forest governance, he continues to contribute to the development of Kenya’s National Forest Monitoring System and Forest Reference Level under global climate frameworks.

Pham Ngoc Hai

Pham Ngoc Hai is a Remote Sensing specialist at the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI), providing significant contributions to Vietnam's National Forest Inventory Program and GHG inventory for the LULUCF sector. He has hands-on experience in generating precise, plot-level geospatial data and developing transparent systems to ensure deforestation-free supply chains.

Plinio Pizango

Plinio is a political scientist from the Kanpu Piyavi Indigenous People of the Peruvian Amazon. He has extensive experience working with Indigenous Peoples and their organizations on forest policy and climate change mitigation. Plinio has been advancing enabling conditions through tech-based tools to strengthen the defense of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and territories.

Rajendra Aryal

Rajendra Aryal is the FAO Representative to Indonesia. Prior to his current appointment, he was FAO Representative in Afghanistan for three years; and he was the Senior Programme Advisor for Resilience Building in FAO Emergency Operations Division in Rome, Italy from 2015 to September 2018. Since mid-March 2003, he has held various positions within the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO), such as senior programme advisor for global Food Security Cluster (gFSC) in Italy; Senior Resilience Manager for Eastern Europe in Serbia; Deputy Representative in South Sudan; Senior Resilience Coordinator in Pakistan; Senior Regional Recovery Coordinator for Asia in Thailand; Representative a.i., in Sri Lanka and Maldives, and the Philippines; Senior Rehabilitation and Recovery Coordinator in Indonesia; Recovery Coordinator in Bangladesh, and Area Manager in Afghanistan. He holds a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Leibnitz University, Hannover, Germany, and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India.

Rémi d’Annunzio

Dr Rémi d’Annunzio is a Forestry Officer at FAO (Rome, Italy), leading the workstream on Transparent Supply Chains for the Forest Monitoring team. He is actively supporting the development of free and open-source solutions and data for earth observation and climate action.

Riva Rovani

Riva Rovani works for the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry as an Associate Forest Ecosystem Analyst and having comprehensive experience in remote sensing and forest monitoring.  He has a PhD and a Master's degree in Environmental Science and Technology (Forest Management and Remote Sensing/GIS Technology) from Niigata University of Japan as well as more than 20 years of expertise in forestry and international cooperation.  He also has contributed in developing Indonesia's National Forest Monitoring System (SIMONTANA) and National Forest Inventory, of which it would incorporate the science and policy to promote climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management.

Robert Kennedy

Robert E. Kennedy is a Professor at Oregon State University and serves as a focal point for the Degradation and Regrowth thematic area within the Research & Development component of the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI). His work focuses on understanding forest change dynamics through time series analysis of satellite data, with particular attention to integrating uncertainty analysis into remote sensing work-flows. He has contributed extensively to methods that address the sources, propagation, and communication of uncertainty in land cover change detection, helping to inform more transparent and reproducible monitoring systems. He holds a PhD in Forest Science and has authored numerous scientific publications on time-series remote sensing, disturbance mapping, and the implications of uncertainty in landscape-scale analyses.

Rob Sturgiss

Rob Sturgiss is the Head of the IPCC TFI Technical Support Unit, based in Japan, and responsible for supporting the management of IPCC Inventory products.  Previously, Rob worked in Australia, where he supervised the operation and ongoing development of Australia's pioneering land-based carbon accounting systems from 2012-2020.

Rocío Cóndor Golec

Rocío Cóndor Golec is the Forestry Officer (Enhanced transparency framework) at FAO and Project Manager of the global CBIT-Forest project. She leads efforts to make forest data transparent and accessible, supporting countries in meeting the Paris Agreement’s enhanced transparency framework. With 24 years’ experience in measurement, reporting and verification.

Ruandha A Sugardiman

Dr Ir. Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, M.Sc., from The Republic of Indonesia, has an extensive background in the forestry sector, with about 40 years’ experience in national and international forestry roles. Prior to his appointment as Expert Advisor of Indonesia's Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) Net Sink 2030 Working Team, Mr Ruandha served as Director-General of Forestry Planning and Environmental Governance at Ministry of Environment and Forestry since 2021-2023. At the global level, he has also served as Indonesian’s Head of Delegation of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change, and he also a Member of Experts for the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), FAO.

Sandro Federici

Sandro Federici is Head of science of the Technical Support Unit of the IPCC Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. He has a PhD in Forestry and working experience on: UNFCCC reporting and accounting, including on Decisions' negotiations; and IPCC process and products, including as author of IPCC methodological guidance for national GHG inventories.

Sylvester Siame

Sylvester Siame is a Zambian forestry professional with over 23 years of progressive experience in forest management, policy implementation, and natural resource governance. He is currently serving in the Forestry Department of Zambia under the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, as a Senior Forestry Officer with a strong background in both technical forestry operations and strategic policy development. He holds a Master of Science in Forest and Environmental Policy from Yeungnam University in the Republic of Korea, complemented by a Bachelor of Science in Forestry. Throughout his career, he has made significant contributions to Zambia’s forestry sector, notably through leadership in forest inventory, management planning, forest policy implementation, and community-based natural resource management initiatives. He has been deeply involved in the development and operationalization of the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS), participating in various national and subnational programmes aimed at improving forest data collection, reporting, and verification to support sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation efforts, governance frameworks and contributing to the country’s climate resilience and sustainable development goals.

Sylvia Wilson

Sylvia Wilson is an international expert in forest monitoring, remote sensing, and climate change mitigation, with over 20 years of experience managing large-scale, donor-funded programs. Sylvia has provided technical and strategic support to countries under the UNFCCC, REDD+, and NDC frameworks, collaborating extensively with GFOI partners. As an independent consultant with GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, she supports research and development needs assessments in forested countries. Her work bridges technical training, policy implementation, and sustainable development in countries, fostering collaboration between donor programs and national governments. She is also the Founder of Wilpa Capacity Development LLC and former Manager of the USGS SilvaCarbon Program.

Thomas Yaw Gyambrah

Thomas Yaw Gyambrah is a seasoned Natural Resources Management professional with over 15 years of experience in REDD+ program design, landscape restoration, and multi-stakeholder engagement. As Manager for REDD+ Programs and Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) at the Climate Change Unit of Ghana’s Forestry Commission, he plays a pivotal role in advancing Ghana’s forest-based climate initiatives. His portfolio includes the development of REDD+ project proposals, implementation of Ghana’s Safeguards Information System, and oversight of emission reductions and removals aligned with the national REDD+ Strategy. Thomas also serves as a national negotiator in global climate negotiations, particularly on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. He holds a Master’s degree in Ecological Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. His international engagements span the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP), the World Forestry Congress, and strategic donor platforms.

Tom Harvey

Tom is the Manager of the GFOI Office, which is hosted by FAO but serves as a secretariat for all GFOI partners and activities. Prior to this, he worked for CIFOR supporting development of the Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS). He was also a member of Australia’s negotiation team to the UNFCCC and has managed various Australian aid funded projects. He is an Environmental Engineer by training and now lives in Australia with his wife and two young sons.

Tony Rianto

Dr Tony Rianto is the Deputy Director of Forest Product Certification and Marketing at the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia. His current focus includes strengthening raw material traceability systems and advancing digital innovation to support sustainable commodity production and enhance smallholders’ access to global markets. He also represents Indonesia in various international collaborations on forest governance and deforestation-free supply chains.

Wahyu Catur Adinugroho

Dr Wahyu Catur Adinugroho is a Principal Researcher at the Research Center for Ecology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia, specializing in forest biometrics, biomass-carbon assessment, and GHG accounting in the FOLU sector. Over two decades of public-sector research—from Wanariset Samboja Research Station and the Ministry of Forestry to BRIN—he has contributed policy-relevant science to MRV/REDD+, the Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS), and the national Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) determinations. Member of the Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Team and the Panel on Methodology for GHG Emission Calculation, Ministry of Environment, Republic of Indonesia. His scholarly portfolio spans international journals, books, proceedings, and practical standards for estimating emissions from forests and peatlands. He is committed to translating robust measurements into decision-ready guidance for climate-responsible management of Indonesia’s forests and peatlands.

William Llactayo León

William is a Peruvian geographic engineer with 30 years of experience in monitoring and assessing natural resources through the application of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. He is a research professor at the National University Federico Villarreal and currently serves as Director of Natural Resources Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Environment of Peru. Throughout his career, he has led initiatives such as the development of Peru’s national ecosystem map, the monitoring of ecosystem degradation in coastal, Andean, and Amazonian biomes, and contributed to the country’s first national carbon stock map. He currently leads the implementation of the Ecosystems and Natural Resources Monitoring and Evaluation Center at the Ministry of Environment.

Wyllsson Adiel Martínez Gómez

Wyllsson Adiel Martínez Gómez is a Forest Engineer with 26 years of experience in the management, conservation, and restoration of forest ecosystems. He currently serves as Director of Forest Management and Restoration at the National Forest Institute (INAB) of Guatemala, where he has also held the position of Regional Director for Region VIII – Petén. His career includes overseeing forest management units and directing 45 operations in the Multiple-Use Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, as well as managing forest plantations in Mozambique. He has led large-scale community forest certification processes with FORESCOM, administering over 249,000 hectares under the FSC standard and the “Madera Justa” label. As a consultant for organizations such as FAO, IUCN, CATIE, and Rainforest Alliance, he has developed key technical studies on timber species, forest landscape restoration, secondary forest management, and fire prevention. His experience also covers certification, chain of custody, socioeconomic studies, silvicultural monitoring, and reforestation planning, making him a leading figure in the forestry sector of the region.

Xavier De Lamo

Xavier De Lamo is a Forestry Officer at FAO, where he supports activities designed to provide a better understanding of the extent and condition of the world's forests, with a special focus on Latin America. Prior to working at FAO, he worked with the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and several research institutions in projects assessing the role of forests and other ecosystems in biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Zhimin Wu

Zhimin Wu, Director of the Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Chairperson of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), has an extensive background in the forestry sector, with decades’ experience in national and international forestry roles. Prior to his appointment at FAO, Dr Wu served as Director-General of the Wetland Management Department of China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) since 2019. Among other roles at national level, Dr. Wu served as Director General for International Cooperation, Director General for Wildlife Conservation, NFGA of China. At the global level, he also served as Vice Chairperson of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), President of the COP 14 of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and Deputy Director General and Board Member of International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR).