Since 2008, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) has been financing climate and biodiversity projects in developing and newly industrialising countries, as well as in countries in transition. The IKI is a key element of Germany’s climate financing and the funding commitments in the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Initiative places clear emphasis on climate change mitigation, adaption to the impacts of climate change and the protection of biological diversity. These efforts provide various co-benefits, particularly the improvement of living conditions in partner countries.
The IKI focuses on four areas: mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to the impacts of climate change, conserving natural carbon sinks with a focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), as well as conserving biological diversity.
CIAT works in collaboration with hundreds of partners to help developing countries make farming more competitive, profitable, and resilient through smarter, more sustainable natural resource management. We help policymakers, scientists, and farmers respond to some of the most pressing challenges of our time, including food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change, and environmental degradation.
Our global research contributes to several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and cuts across four key themes: big data, climate-smart agriculture, ecosystem action, and sustainable food systems. Our mission: Reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.
PIK, the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, addresses crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate impacts and sustainable development. Researchers from the natural and social sciences work together to generate interdisciplinary insights and to provide society with sound information for decision making. The main methodologies are systems and scenarios analysis, modelling, computer simulation, and data integration.
The Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP), is a science and technology research institution envisioned to achieve sustainable development for the Amazonian population, with an emphasis on the rural side, and specialized in conservation and the correct use of natural resources in the Amazonian region. IIAP carries out its activities in a decentralized manner, promoting the participation of institutions and organized civil society.
The Center Foundation for Research in Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems (CIPAV) is a nongovernmental organization with over 20 years of experience in the research, capacity building, and outreach necessary to construct sustainable agricultural production systems. CIPAV seeks to contribute to the sustainable development of the rural sector through investigation, management, development, and dissemination of environmentally friendly and productive alternatives.
The National Agrarian University of La Molina, is an educational institution specialized in the formation of professionals for the agricultural, silvicultural, livestock, fishing, food, and economics sectors. It is one of the largest and most well-known universities in the field of agricultural research within South America. For 30 years it has been linked to the development of sustainable agricultural systems, establishing relationships with agricultural communities within the department of Loreto, Peru. The university’s experience in the surveying of ecosystem services, as well as its ample knowledge about all different types of agricultural systems, will be a great benefit to the project.
The University of the Amazons, is an institution of higher education with standing social accreditation, renowned for and leader in the construction, appropriation, adaptation, implementation, and diffusion of academic, scientific, and investigative processes, as well as the protection of the community.
The university has carried out research and knowledge sharing activities with agricultural producers of the region for the past 15 years. This has allowed it to build strong relationships with farmers’ associations, which both contributes to the achievement of project objectives and furthers the pursuit of sustainable human development within the Amazonian region, the institutional vision of this academic entity.
The SINCHI Institute – an Amazonian scientific research institute, has over 15 years of experience in the development and implementation of sustainable production systems based on biodiversity, as well as in the establishment of sustainable productive landscapes in disrupted areas of the Northern Amazon, in addition to the characterization and classification of rural production systems and the design of sustainability indicators for these systems.
Ecosystem Services Research Theme Leader, Decision and Policy Analysis Program. 14-year experience, core work on project formulation and implementation related to Payments for Ecosystem Services schemes design, and environmental impacts.
Agronomic Engineer, Masters in Crop Physiology. Experience in research within the Ecosystem Services group, in quantifying indicators of environmental impact such as the water footprint and carbon footprint of agricultural systems.
His work is related to the development of sustainable alternatives in production, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the development of economic methods for environmental management.
PhD in Biological Sciences, 20 years of scientific research experience in the Colombian Amazonia in biodiversity and conservation, crop physiology, ecological physiology, plant adaptations and stress, and productive landscapes and systems.
Dr. Dennis del Castillo is the Director of the Terrestrial Research Program at IIAP. He is an agronomic engineer with a Doctorate and Masters both focused in Agronomy, and over 30 years of global and local experience working with environmental issues, particularly related to forests.
Experience in research, education, and extension work in the management of tropical soils and the restoration of degraded soils with continuous crop systems, grasses, and agroforestry.
Professor Dr. Kropp is the Deputy Chair of Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities at PIK and Director of Studies of Sustainability at Urstein University of Applied Sciences. He has over 25 years of experience in scientific studies oriented towards climate change and impact.
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International Center for Tropical Agriculture – CIAT
Ecosystem Services Research Theme Leader, Decision and Policy Analysis Program. 14-year experience, core work on project formulation and implementation related to Payments for Ecosystem Services schemes design, and environmental impacts
Agronomic Engineer, Masters in Crop Physiology. Experience in research within the Ecosystem Services group, in quantifying indicators of environmental impact such as the water footprint and carbon footprint of agricultural systems.
Agricultural engineer with a Masters in Geography. Expert in GIS planning, management, and database curating, and is in charge of the geo-analysis of landscape level data.
Gisella Cruz
CIAT - Participatory methods and socio-environmental analysis
Gisella Cruz
CIAT - Participatory methods and socio-environmental analysis
Biologist and social scientist, with experience in the study of rural communities’ knowledge, use, management, and valorization of ecosystem services; as well as their importance for food security and well-being.
Erwan Sachet
CIAT - Participatory methods and political analysis
Erwan Sachet
CIAT - Participatory methods and political analysis
Ecologist with an MSc in forest conservation – focus in politics and society – from Wageningen University. Currently is research assistant, working in the social component of the project SAL.
Agricultural Engineer. Provides scientific support in the understanding of the impacts of climate change over agro-ecosystems through the generation of high resolution climate projections and the impact modeling.
Economist from the University of Valle with a Masters in Economics from Icesi University. Currently works as a research assistant in CIAT for the Ecosystem Services and Impact Evaluation teams.
Chrystian Sosa
CIAT - Database, survey planning, and statistical analysis
Chrystian Sosa
CIAT - Database, survey planning, and statistical analysis
Biologist with five years of experience in bioinformatics (biodiversity) and data management. Is in charge of the implementation of socioeconomic surveys in mobile devices and their management.
Louis Reymondin
CIAT - Monitoring of changes in coverage and habitat (Terra-i system)
Louis Reymondin
CIAT - Monitoring of changes in coverage and habitat (Terra-i system)
Post-doctoral fellow at CIAT, has 10+ years of experience coordinating the Terra-i project and researches involving AI and data mining to better understand dynamics between human activities and the environment.
Paula Andrea Paz
CIAT - Monitoring of changes in coverage and habitat (Terra-i system)
Paula Andrea Paz
CIAT - Monitoring of changes in coverage and habitat (Terra-i system)
Experience in the development of the web platform and display data of Terra-i project. Has knowledge of different programming technologies for visualization of geospatial data and information in general.
Her research centers on the degradation of soil plus the processes and indicators of its restoration, participatory design of sustainable alternative uses of soil, and eco-efficient agro-ecosystems.
Professional with ten years of experience in soil sample taking in the field and three years in implementing methodologies and interpretation of the physical analysis of soils.
Scientist with the Tropical Forages Program at CIAT with experience on nitrogen and carbon cycling processes in tropical forage-based crop-tree-livestock systems. Also working on forage quality and reduction of GHG.
Agricultural engineer, Scientist in the Tropical Forages program, experience in germoplasm research for the restoration of degraded soils and for animal feed.
Ecologist and educator, proposes a theoretical and practical vision of the functioning and management of tropical soils. Proposes a reorganization of agricultural landscapes in order to optimally provide ecosystem services.
Gender Postdoctoral fellow. Research interests in intra-household dynamics among agricultural households, particularly the analysis of gendered time poverty and its consequences on household food security in Africa and Latin America.
PhD in Anthropology from the University of Florida. Postdoctoral researcher in CIAT and support for the integration of gender in the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees, and Agroforestry.
Works on research communications and dissemination for the project SAL. Global experience in scientific research communications in both Southeast Asia and Latin America.
His work is related to the development of sustainable alternatives in production, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the development of economic methods for environmental management.
Catalina Zapata
CIPAV - Technology dissemination to ag. producers, participatory methods
Catalina Zapata
CIPAV - Technology dissemination to ag. producers, participatory methods
Experience in environmental regulation and planning, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. Also in design and implementation of ‘Payment for Environmental Services’ schemes and the developmental of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems.
Mayerly Rivera
CIPAV - Technology dissemination to ag. producers, participatory methods
Mayerly Rivera
CIPAV - Technology dissemination to ag. producers, participatory methods
Medical veterinary zootechnician from the University of the Amazon. Works as professional support in the processes of reconverting livestock farming back to silvopastoral systems.
Agro-ecological engineer, Masters in Agroforestry. Helping to create a methodology for sampling of soils, macro fauna and the surveying of (forest) boundaries and coverage.
Agro-ecological engineer, Masters in Agroforestry. Helping with the construction of tools such as surveys, participatory workshops, and socioeconomic indicators.
PhD in Biological Sciences, 20 years of scientific research experience in the Colombian Amazonia in biodiversity and conservation, crop physiology, ecological physiology, plant adaptations and stress, and productive landscapes and systems.
Dr. Dennis del Castillo is the Director of the Terrestrial Research Program at IIAP. He is an agronomic engineer with a Doctorate and Masters both focused in Agronomy, and over 30 years of global and local experience working with environmental issues, particularly related to forests.
Doctorate from the University of Leeds. Research experience in Amazonian forests, vegetation and carbon inventories, tree species determination, molecular data processing, and populations phylogeography and genetics.
Experience in research, education, and extension work in the management of tropical soils and the restoration of degraded soils with continuous crop systems, grasses, and agroforestry.
Engineer in Renewable Natural Resources and Masters in Soils. Work experience in the application of methodologies for the physical and chemical analysis of soils, the evaluation of conservation projects, and the management of soils in agroforestry systems.
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research – PIK
Professor Dr. Kropp is the Deputy Chair of Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities at PIK and Director of Studies of Sustainability at Urstein University of Applied Sciences. He has over 25 years of experience in scientific studies oriented towards climate change and impact.
Experience in conducting research in the fields of agriculture, food security, climate change, socioecological systems, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and sustainability.
PhD student, Sustainable South America (SUSA). Research Interests: Land surface processes, Land-atmosphere interaction, Regional climate, Geomorphology, Natural hazards, Global climate change
Experienced in topics of biodiversity conservation and vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. Her thesis consists of evaluating exposure, vulnerability and ethno-entomological knowledge for the creation of adaptation strategies.
Chemist, Masters student in Agroforestry. Responsible for the development of a standardization in methods of the chemical and biochemical analysis of soils in eco-physiological laboratories.
Food engineer. Responsible for the development of a standardization in methods of the chemical and biochemical analysis of soils in eco-physiological laboratories.
Agroforestry engineer, Masters student in sustainable production systems, development of a standardization in methods of the chemical and biochemical analysis of soils in eco-physiological laboratories.
Agro-ecological engineer, responsible for the production of organic fertilizers and involved in the determination of physical and chemical soil properties.
Environmental Engineering student, participates in the project SAL in the evaluation of different vegetative land covers as indicators of change in land use.
Forestry engineering student, responsible for the evaluation and modelling of the influence of structural complexity and site factors in arboreal land covers under anthropogenic intervention in relation to carbon stocks.
Student of environmental engineering, working on the evaluation of the effects of topography and soil type on the variotion of carbon stock in different vegetative land covers.
