Our Vision

Javier Beltran, Working Landscapes Coordinator, The Nature Conservancy, jbeltran@TNC.ORG

I am a biologist, who works and lives in Bariloche, Southern Argentina. I have extensive knowledge on aspects of biodiversity conservation, and biodiversity information management. Special aspects of interest include the designation and management of protected areas, including the voluntary involvement of private landowners in nature conservation. I currently am coordinating The Nature Conservancy´s efforts to engage the rural sector in conservation actions and sustainable use of lands and waters in Arid and Semi-arid Patagonia. My aspiration is making conservation and rural production fully compatible. Some of the tools in use include sustainable grazing and conservation easements, and the development of a policy environment which enables greater involvement of producers in the maintenance of structure and functioning of whole systems across working landscapes throughout the region. My area of expertise also comprises the implementation of global and regional environmental treaties and programs, and mechanisms of integration of recommendations of such instruments into national effective policy action.

Armando Carbonell, Senior Fellow, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, acarbonell@lincolninst.edu Armando is an urban planner, and the Department of Planning and Urban Form at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He co-edited two recent Lincoln Institute volumes, Resilient Coastal City Regions: Planning for Climate Change in the United States and Australia and Regional Planning in America: Practice and Prospect. Carbonell has been a lecturer and design critic in urban planning and design at Harvard University and has taught planning studios at the University of Pennsylvania. Until recently, he was Policy and Practice Editor of the British journal Town Planning Review. As part their of centenary celebration this year, he was made a lifetime honorary member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (London). Prior to his appointment at the Lincoln Institute in 1999, he had been the founding Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commission.

Judith LaBelle, President Emeritus, Glynwood jmlnyc1@gmail.com As a practicing attorney in New York City, as founding president of Glynwood (a nonprofit in NY’s Hudson Valley that promotes sustainable agriculture), and as a private citizen, my career has focused on issues relating to conservation of cultural and natural resources, land use, sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. While serving as Counsel and Deputy Director to the NYS Commission on the Adirondacks in 1990, I researched comparable international efforts to meld government and private conservation and toured several French Regional Nature Parks; as a result I was the first American invited to attend the meetings of the Europarc: The Federation of National and Nature Parks of Europe, which I did for several years. I have had a range of other international experience over the past 30 years, including that resulting from Glynwood’s many years of leadership of the US side of the International Countryside Stewardship Exchange program, working primarily with colleagues throughout the UK and Western Europe. I participated in the first international meeting of land trusts in France about 25 years ago; I led several delegations to study and advise projects relating to parks, cultural heritage tourism and sustainable agriculture in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Japan; and lectured on behalf of the US State Department Speakers Tour first in Italy (on private land conservation techniques) and later in Germany (on community-based conservation and regional agriculture). In 2012, I retired after 17 years as president of Glynwood. I moved to Costa Rica where I now write, serve on a foundation board that focuses on agricultural, energy and water issues, and provide advice and assistance to a variety of colleagues and organizations.

Fernando Lloveras, Executive Director, Para la Naturaleza, fernando@paralanaturaleza.org

Fernando Lloveras-San Miguel, Esq. is the Executive Director of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (CTPR), a position he has held since 2003. In 2012 the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program stemming from the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) accredited the Conservation Trust. Additionally, CTPR was accepted in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the first and only member from Puerto Rico to join the oldest and largest global environmental organization.
In an effort to draw people into the conservation movement Lloveras-San Miguel spearheaded in 2013 the launch of a new unit, Para la Naturaleza. Para la Naturaleza groups all educational, volunteer and citizen science programming, land conservation and fundraising initiatives of the organization. Para la Naturaleza also manages all 5 visitor centers and 27 natural areas protected by the Trust. Lloveras-San Miguel is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, member of the Board of Directors of the Land Trust Alliance and member of the Governing Board of the University of Puerto Rico. In addition Lloveras- San Miguel is mentor of the Founder Institute, the world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. In 1992, Lloveras-San Miguel co-founded and was the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Microjuris.com, Inc., the leading Internet provider of legal and legislative information in Latin America, with operations in Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Since 2003, he remains Chairman of the Board. From 1989 to 1992, Lloveras-San Miguel served as an Advisor on Federal Affairs to the Governor of Puerto Rico, serving as the liaison between US government and the Governor of Puerto Rico. He has also served as a member of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce’s Government Relations and Technology Committees and has been a Student Mentor for Puerto Rico Youth at Risk. Lloveras-San Miguel holds a Magna Cum Laude Juris Doctor degree from the University of Puerto Rico Law School, a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College, where he was Senior Fellow.
He is a coffee and cattle farmer and spends most of his free time at his farm in Ciales with his wife Michelle Marxuach and his two children.

John Lounds, President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy of Canada, John.Lounds@natureconservancy.ca

John’s passion for conservation and appreciation of nature was developed while growing up in rural Ontario and spending late summers at a family cottage. John then applied these interests at university, obtaining his undergraduate degree in environmental studies (urban and rural planning) from the University of Waterloo and then a master’s degree in environmental studies from York University. Prior to joining NCC, John was the Executive Director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (now Ontario Nature) for six years and held several positions within the Government of Ontario. John joined NCC as its Chief Executive in October 1997. Through his leadership, NCC has further defined its unique role as an organization that works with individuals and groups across Canada that share its passion for land conservation, and utilizes creative means to achieve this goal. One of his first initiatives was to decentralize the organization, in part by establishing regional offices, to ensure a strong presence across the country. NCC has achieved great success, having grown from an annual budget of $8 million in 1997 to over $80 million in each of the past two years. In the process NCC has helped conserve more than 2,500,000 acres of ecologically significant lands across Canada since its inception. While NCC has accomplished a lot over the past decade, in John’s view “there is so much more to do”.

Celia Mahung, Executive Director, the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, cmahung@tidebelize.org

Celia Mahung has been executive director of the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) in southern Belize since January 2007. Prior to her position at TIDE, Celia worked as Center Administrator at the University of Belize, Toledo Campus and lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Arts. Celia has a wealth of experience in education, leadership, local knowledge and teacher training. Though never trained formally in conservation, Celia has attended numerous conferences on the topic and she demonstrates an appreciation for natural resources. She has implemented a number of programs that have increased community participation in conservation and has used innovative approaches to enhancing stewardship among resource users. Celia leads an organization with a staff of 32 that does natural resource management (marine and terrestrial), conducts scientific research and environmental education. Her organization also manages over 20,000 acres of protected lands acquired through the only ‘debt for nature swap’ program in Belize, awarded in 2001. Along with her conservation work, Celia and her team operate TIDE Tours, a tour operating company, and a Ridge to Reef Expedition.

Celia is committed to the continued growth of the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment and has attracted trained and dedicated staff to grow the organization into one of the largest and respected conservation organizations in Belize. She displays a passion for sustainable development of the Toledo District.

Brent Mitchell, Senior Vice President, Stewardship, QLF Atlantic Center for the Environment, brentmitchell@qlf.org Brent is Senior Vice President, Stewardship, at QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment. Much of Brent’s current work involves direct exchange among professional peers working for conservation in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America, with a particular interest in private and public/private approaches to landscape conservation. These programs reach more than 50 countries. Prior to joining the staff of QLF, Mitchell lived and worked in five countries of the Caribbean and Latin America (including on-site development of the first two natural national parks in Haiti; gazetting of terrestrial and marine reserves in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and field research in wildlife ecology in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela). He worked as a field biologist for America’s oldest land trust, the Trustees of Reservations, before joining QLF in 1987. One of his first projects at QLF was to promote land trusts in eastern Canada, and he served on the board of the nascent American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts. A longtime member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, he chairs a specialist group on privately protected areas. He works with public land management agencies in all three countries of North America, particularly the U.S. National Park Service’s Conservation Study Institute. He is immediate past President of the George Wright Society, the professional association of park scientists and managers. QLF (Quebec-Labrador Foundation) is a registered charity in Canada and a 501(c)3 publicly-supported charity in the U.S. Its mission is two-fold, to support the rural communities and environment of eastern Canada and New England; and create models for stewardship of natural resources and cultural heritage applicable worldwide.

Marcelo Ringeling, Co-Founder, Templado, mringeling@templado.cl

As a businessman and entrepreneur, Marcelo founded several companies in the fields of publishing (Salo Editores), and multiple companies in the field of I&T (1981), Computerland, Apple Chile, Microcare, Microsoft Chile, Softland, Computek among other), consolidating his career with Quintec, a 25 years leader company in IT solutions in Chile and other countries in Latin America. Marcelo has been an active member of the Corporación Parques para Chile since its foundation (2002), in search for opportunities to collaborate in the public and private conservation of the country’s natural heritage. Marcelo has also participated as a teacher and an assessor as well, since its foundation, in San Lorenzo de Recoleta school; committed to technical education access in vulnerable sectors of the country. Since Templado’s foundation, Marcelo has participated in the in the working group established to propose legal and tax incentive mechanisms for private lands conservation. He has represented, in front of diverse audiences, the interests of businessmen who understand that nature conservation is a fundamental pillar of the country’s development. Marcelo studied Civil Industrial Engineering at the Universidad de Chile.

Loring Schwarz Director of Climate Change Program, Mass Audubon, loringschwarz@gmail.com For nearly three years, Loring has been Director of the Climate Change Program at Mass Audubon, the largest conservation organization in the Northeastern US. From 1978 until 2009, I held a variety of leadership and conservation strategy positions at The Nature Conservancy in the US, the Caribbean, and in the Mediterranean Basin where I ultimately learned that climate change is the greatest threat to nature. Before I came to Mass Audubon, I co-authored climate change adaptation guidance for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and contributed to POWPA adaptation guidelines. At Mass Audubon, I work on both emissions reduction and nature based adaptation strategies at the state and local levels and to create a culture of climate literacy for lasting change in our Commonwealth (informal and formal climate science standards for public schools). This fall, I will be organizing an adaptation summit to gain greater commitment and funding for nature based adaptation including land protection in a new administration; Mass Audubon will also be promoting a ‘switch to green energy ‘campaign to our 110,000 members. In the future, we hope to evaluate our present (34,000 acres) and future lands for climate change vulnerability and strength, sharing our results with the land trust community.

Francisco (Pancho) Solis, Así Conserva Chile, panchosolisgermani@gmail.com

Francisco has been working to help protect the biodiversity and natural beauty of his native Chile since 2000.  A lawyer by training and conservationist by passion, Francisco is a long-time advocate of conservation in Chile. In 2003, he was awarded a Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize while working as part of the Coastal Range Coalition protecting southern Chile temperate forests.  Currently, he is the Director of Pew´s Chilean Patagonia Project, a both ambitious and urgent initiative to protect one of the world´s most pristine wilderness areas.

Philip Tabas, Special Advisor, The Nature Conservancy, ptabas@tnc.org

Philip serves as Special Counsel for Conservation Strategies in The Nature Conservancy’s North Conservation America Region. He has served as the Conservancy’s General Counsel for the past ten years. Philip has been with the Conservancy for thirty-three years, and has held a range of legal and non-legal positions in TNC in the areas of land protection, government relations, compatible economic development, tax policy and conservation planning. Philip has been involved in numerous private land conservation and compatible development projects, particularly involving the use of conservation easements in the United States and other countries. He has also worked to secure changes in Federal, state and international tax policy to encourage conservation activities. Prior to TNC, he practiced law in Philadelphia, worked as an attorney for The New England River Basins Commission, and was an environmental attorney with Abt Associates, a Cambridge, Massachusetts consulting firm. Philip received a B.A. degree in English from Pennsylvania State University, his J.D. from the George Washington University, a Master of Land Use Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and an LL.M degree in tax law from Boston University Law School. Outside of work he enjoys reading, skiing, hiking and spending time with his family

Henry Tepper has spent twenty-five years as a conservation leader in both the United States and abroad, playing a direct role in protecting almost 1 million acres in North and Latin America. He has served as President of Mass Audubon, one of the largest environmental organizations in New England; Chief Conservation Officer of Patagonia Sur, LLC, a private conservation real estate company in Chilean Patagonia; and Director of The Nature Conservancy's State Programs in both New Hampshire and in New York State. As TNC-NY's Director, Henry led four forest conservation projects in the Adirondack Park totaling more than 350,000 acres. Henry serves on the Board of Directors of the Tierra Austral Land Trust in Chile and the Land Trust Alliance's Land Trust Leadership Council.

Geoff Wescott, Associate Professor of Environment, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University at Melbourne, Geoffrey.wescott@deakin.edu.au Geoff is Associate Professor of Environment in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University’s Melbourne (Burwood) campus. Although originally a marine evolutionary ecologist (an Honours and Masters in Science from the University of Melbourne) he switched to Nature Conservation and Environmental Management through a University College London Masters and a PhD on Victorian Coastal Policy at Deakin. After being the Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Victoria (now Environment Victoria) Geoff has become a researcher, educator and advocate for nature conservation and environmental policy, planning and management -with a specialization in marine and coastal matters. He is a past Chair of the Marine and Coastal Community Network and the Victorian National Parks Advisory Council and has served on many government bodies including the Board of Parks Victoria and the federal government’s National Oceans Advisory Group. He is currently a member of the Victorian Coastal Council and a Director of Zoos Victoria. Geoff has authored/ edited five books and has published over 170 papers, chapters and articles and is a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand.

Jofre Rodrigo, Executive co-director, Xarxa per a la Conservació de la Natura (XCN),  jrodrigo@xcn.cat

Jofre is from Catalonia and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Girona, as well as a Master's Degree in Advanced Studies in Foundations of Economic Analysis from the same university. Following his Master’s degree, he focused on professional environmental consultancy. He is currently executive co-director of the The Nature Conservation Network of Catalonia (XCN). Established in 2003, XCN is a second-level organization composed of over 160 associations, foundations, city councils, and enterprises. A working group under XCN coordination facilitated, for the first time in Europe, the civil code regulation of land stewardship contracts in Catalonia. Currently, the Government of Catalonia is working together with the XCN to implement a public Register of Stewardship Agreements and a tax incentive framework for land stewardship.

Yang Fangyi, Partnership Development Director, Paradise International Foundation, fangyi.y@139.com

Fangyi graduated from Yunnan University and Gottingen University, Obtained Bachelor’s degree of Economics and Master’s degree of Forestry respective. He has worked with Conservation International since year 2004, playing the role of focal points of Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund which is the first Fund in China to fund civil society groups to work for biodiversity conservation. From Year 2011, Fangyi has worked with SHANSHUI conservation center, which is a local conservation group and he has lead the forest team to design and implement the Mekong Fund. From 2013, Fangyi has started 3 years career with Alibaba Foundation and design the funding program including Qingyuan Initiative (Pollution Prevention Action by NGOs), Nature Education and Environmental Philanthropy Venture program. Prior to serve as the director of Partnership Program at Paradise International Foundation, Fangyi has served as senior researcher at China Global Philanthropy Institute, leading the team to research on social finance and impact investing.