Environmental credits and other incentives for the establishment of ecosystem service schemes are an emergent tool for managing natural landscapes. We rely on an Advisory Group of recognized natural resource management, research and policy experts to support decision  making in the company as we move forward. Nature Services Peru is in the middle of a seed financing process, to be completed in March 2011. Upon completion of the financing round the Advisory Group will transition into a Board of Directors. 

Coming from a family who has farmed in New Zealand for five generations, being a parent and being concerned about practical responses to global warming, Forbes decided in 2008 to launch Craigmore Sustainables. His idea was to combine his interests in finance, in agriculture and in improving the environment. Craigmore Sustainables' first major fund is Craigmore Forestry, with a particular focus on New Zealand carbon forestry. The fund invests in plantation forests, both growing valuable timber and earning carbon offsets for sequestering carbon dioxide.
Previously, Forbes worked as a research analyst at Goldman Sachs and as a credit trader at Merrill Lynch, heading a convertibles trading desk. He subsequently founded the financial software company Credit Market Analysis, which he sold to Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2008, returning 600% to investors. Forbes bring to Nature Services Peru his love of nature and considerable finance and business expertise. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and obtained his MBA at Harvard Business School. He lives in Oxfordshire with his family. His interests are in New Zealand farming, financial software and sustainable investments. 

John is a Research Professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences in Duke University and Director of the Duke University Center for Tropical Conservation.  For 36 years, he has operated a research station in Perú’s Manu National Park where Peruvian and international scientists study a wide range of basic and applied problems.  His current interests lie in the field of plant-animal interactions and the mechanisms that sustain the high diversity of tropical tree communities. John has published more than 200 research articles and 8 books.  He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.  He has aided the cause of international conservation through service on numerous boards and panels.  John’s contribution includes making sure that Nature Services Peru's work remains firmly grounded in conservation biology and providing practical insight into the pitfalls and successes of ecosystem management in the tropics. John is married to biologist Lisa Davenport, with whom he has recently started a new research programme in Gabon.

Roberto has over 20 years experience in strategic development, project management and financial consulting in Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. He has developed and managed projects in the tourism, real estate, agriculture and non-metallic mining sectors. He has been General Manager of the Jockey Plaza Shopping Mall and been on the Board of Directors of Orient Express Hotels, Peru Rail and Lan Peru. More recently he has become involved with projects aiming to sustainably manage forest assets. As founding partner of Asesorandes, one of Peru’s most respected financial services boutiques, Roberto brings to Nature Services Peru his very broad business experience, a considerable network of contacts for ecosystem services and sustainable development projects. Roberto graduated with a Masters in Economics from the University of Southern California and lives in Lima with his wife Gisella and their two sons Roberto and Francesco.  In his free time, Roberto practices Tao, reads and walks a lot, and is a Board Member of ICCA, an NGO that supports the development of rural communities in Peru.

Kurt has dedicated his career to hands-on approaches to developing the conservation economy from the business arena.  A Peruvian forest engineer, he has worked as an assistant field researcher, naturalist guide, consultant and social entrepreneur.  Since co-founding Rainforest Expeditions in 1992 (www.perunature.com), the award winning eco-tourism company has grown to encompass three eco-lodges in Amazonian Peru with a total of 80 rooms.  One of these lodges, Posada Amazonas, is owned by the Native Community of Infierno and co-managed with Rainforest Expeditions, since its opening in 1998. Kurt is a well respected leader in eco-tourism and shares his expertise across sectors, having served as Director of the Peruvian Chamber of Tourism, President of the Asociación Peruana de Turismo de Aventura y Ecoturismo and Director of the Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental.  Kurt is currently exploring industries beyond tourism that can produce profit by monetizing standing forest and establish connections to local stewards. In 2008, Kurt was chosen a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is a voracious reader, enjoys playing soccer, watching baseball, running, and contemplating life with a good view. 

Irene is the Editor of the Colombian newspaper El Mundo. Upon completing her Law studies in the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, she began work as a journalist. As she rose through the ranks at the newspaper, her focus has shifted from news reporting to placing emphasis on the educational potential of the media. From El Mundo she participates in the Boards of several public and private organizations. Irene contributes to Nature Services Peru her experience in media education and her networks in the sustainable development arena. She is hoping to be able to build bridges between ecosystem services developments in Peru and neighbouring countries like her beloved Colombia. In her free time, Irene loves to spend time with her family in the countryside, walk and read a lot.

Sandro has over 10 years experience in finance and start-ups in Latin America. He participated in the creation and operation of Explorador.Net LLC, the first early stage $30MM technology fund for Latin America, Velocitel LLC, a $75 million wireless infrastructure investment vehicle, backed by private equity fund Willis Stein & Partners and  Alsis Funds LLC, a $600 million Latin American Asset Backed Security hedge fund, backed by OPIC, the IFC, Goldman Sachs and other private investors. In Peru he has worked on developing the investment promotion strategy of PROINVERSION, the Peruvian Investment Promotion Agency, and in mergers & acquisitions and strategic planning for Belcorp Corporation, a Peruvian cosmetics multinational. Sandro is assisting Nature Services Peru in developing a commercialization strategy and business development concepts. He obtained his bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London, followed by an MBA in finance from the Wharton School and an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University, where he received the Merrill Lynch fellowship.

Yadvinder is Professor of Ecosystem Science at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment and Programme Leader of the Ecosystems Group at the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford. He is also Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of the Atmosphere and Biosphere, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, and at the Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The broad scope of his research is the impact of global atmospheric change on the ecology, structure and composition of terrestrial ecosystems, and in particular temperate and tropical forests. Yadvinder contributes to Nature Services Peru his broad understanding of ecosystem function and dynamics, and their relevance for conservation and policy, as well as substantive knowledge about the role that the international carbon markets and the climate change framework could play in protecting tropical forests. More recently, Yadvinder founded the Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests, a civil society, business and academia collaboration to address the urgent issues and opportunities surrounding tropical forests. Yadvinder and his family are currently based in Ghana, where he is establishing a new research program on West African forests.