We are 10 days away from the 31st Annual Conference of the Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters

We want to thank the over six hundred people already registered for the conference. We are thrilled to engage with you both in-person and online next week!

This year’s theme, “Governing Resilient Tropical Forest Systems,” will bring together a dynamic lineup of speakers, interactive posters and speed talk sessions, innovation prize, and networking opportunities.

📅 Dates: January 31 & February 1, 2025
📍 Location: Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect St, New Haven (Yale School of the Environment)

Keynote speakers:

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) & Former Minister of the Environment, Costa Rica
Santiago Gowland, CEO of the Rainforest Alliance
Rhett Butler, CEO and Founder of Mongabay
Emma Torres, VP of Americas, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

Panel 1 - Nature-Based Solutions: Forests for the Future & Holistic Pathways to Thriving Ecosystems

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Global Leader of Climate and Energy at World Wildlife Fund (WWF) & Former Minister of the Environment, Peru
Mauricio Diazgranados, Chief Science Officer and Dean of Science, New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)
Elsa Ordway, Assistant Professor, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
David Ganz, Yale School of Environment Class of ’96, Executive Director, NGO Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC)
Moderator: Sara Kuebbing, Research Director, Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program

Panel 2 - Ground Up Forest Governance in a Changing Climate: Perspectives from Indigenous and Local Communities

Jose Domingo, Mam Mayan Indigenous leader, Guatemalan Municipal Government
Diego Pons, PhD in Physical Geography, Research Associate Scientist, University of Denver
Bola Madzoke, Local Community Member of the Lac Télé Community Reserve and Ecologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Congo
Dominique Bikaba, Founder of Strong Roots Congo
Moderator: Kalyanakrishnan (Shivi) Sivaramakrishnan, Professor of Anthropology; Professor of Forestry & Environmental Studies; Co-Director, Program in Agrarian Studies; Yale University

Panel 3 - Tropical Forest Finance: Innovative Financing Mechanisms for Tropical Forest Conservation and Restoration

Garo Batmanian, Director General, Brazilian Forest Service, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Syahrina Anggraini, Country Lead, Indonesia, Governors Climate & Forests Task Force
Francisco Souza, Senior VP, Global Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Center, Conservation International (CI)
Moderator: Nicolas Hernandez-Aguilera, Associate Research Scientist, Yale School of the Environment