The FAO LEAP Secretariat is pleased to announce the names of the leaders of the new Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Ecosystem Services, which will gather for the first time on 18 April to launch the work programme.

Raimon Ripoll-Bosch

“Livestock production is associated with the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. On occasion, however, livestock can sustain biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. I aim to contribute to the development of a comprehensive and harmonized international approach to integrate ecosystem services accounting into sustainability assessments of livestock farming systems”.

Raimon is an Associate Professor at the Wageningen University & Research’s Animal Production Systems Group. He has been involved in several research projects and initiatives at international, regional and national level and is interested in understanding the role of livestock in developing a sustainable future. In particular, Raimon uses a systems approach to explore the complex interactions between livestock farming, climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and economy. Raimon holds a PhD on sustainability assessment of livestock farming systems.

Sophie Bertrand

“With 32 experts from 20 countries working on such a complex topic, it will be an exciting challenge to mine the deep knowledge of the group to build harmonized guidelines for assessing ecosystem services from livestock. Given the recognized need for international guidelines to help identify synergies and trade-offs, raise awareness, and inform decision making, the work of this group will be crucial”.

Sophie leads European communication programs on sustainability for the European Milk Forum (EMF) and is Director of Communication and Environment for the French Dairy Inter-branch Organisation (CNIEL). For over 20 years, she has led and participated in various scientific and technical projects to improve the environmental performance of the dairy industry, including the French Livestock Institute (9 years) and the CNIEL (10 years). Sophie has chaired the International Dairy Federation’s Standing Committee on Environment and led technical groups to deliver sector-specific guidelines. She also served as a member of several FAO LEAP technical advisory groups. She holds a Master of Science in Agriculture.