Affiliates
Belinda Contreras Jaimes
Belinda is a communications specialist with postgraduate studies in pedagogy, ethnobiology and sustainability. She is interested in the emerging field of transformative education with a biocultural approach. With support from People and Plants, she is currently undertaking a project with Nahua indigenous communities of the Sierra de Zongolica, addressing traditional agricultural practices, and using seasonal calendars for community reflection around the challenges of local food systems. ResearchGate
Vince Docta
Vince has been working with Negrito indigenous communities since 2002, beginning with visits with the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme to the Agta tribes in Quezon Province, and the Aetas in Zambales Province. He serves as the volunteer board secretary for SPNKK and is currently pursuing is PhD in Development Studies from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos.
Christopher Fominyam Njoh
Christopher is founder of the Wildflower Ecology Foundation (WEF) based in Limbe, Cameroon. He is an expert in tropical botanic garden management and served as Curator of the Limbe Botanic Garden for decades. His work today focuses on community conservation, rural development, and environmental education. He is particularly interested in the study and conservation of wild foods and their nutritional and health values.
Melvin Guilleno
Melvin has been working with indigenous communities since 2011 through his involvement with the Assisi Development Foundation, indigenous Aeta communities of Tarlac province, and the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). He serves as the National Coordinator for SPNKK and oversees the various activities implemented by Negrito communities in the Philippines.
Valentinus Heri
Heri is the founder and Executive Director of the Riak Bumi Foundation, which was established in 2000. The Riak Bumi Foundation is a non-governmental organization that aims to balance community welfare and environmental conservation, mainly through the development of NTFPs and environmental services. He is one of the founders of the Indonesian Forest Honey Network and the coordinator of the Tengkawang Kalimantan Network.
Rosalinda Hidalgo
Rosalinda is an ethnologist specialized in rural development, with more than ten years experience working on research action projects with indigenous and farmer organizations. An active member of the MIMOSZ (Manejo Integral de Montes de la Sierra de Zongolica) working group, she is also actively involved with the environmental justice movement surrounding the protection of river systems and peoples’ territorial rights in Mexico.
Stephanie Lamma Ewi
The UN Agora Award winner, Stephanie is Director of programs at the Pan African Centre for Climate Policy. She is working to bridge the intergenerational gap in natural resource management and build the capacities of young women for climate justice through her radio program Eco-voice and as part of the Youth Advisory Board of the Youth against Slavery Movement. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow.
Paul Hersch Martínez
Paul is a medical doctor, anthropologist and clinical phytotherapist. He is a researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History where he directs the program 'Social Actors in the Medicinal Flora of Mexico'. Paul has worked extensively with community-based organizations and rural municipal authorities to help strengthen local capacities for health-related organization and delivery.
Rebecca McLain
Rebecca currently works as the Research Program Director for the National Policy Consensus Center, Portland State University, Adjunct Research Faculty for the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, Portland State University, and a Senior Associate with the Center for International Forestry Research. Her research interests include collaborative environmental governance, cultural values mapping, and land tenure and forest landscape restoration. ResearchGate
Patricia Negreros
Patricia is a forester with over thirty years of experience supporting local silvicultural initiatives in Mexico and Guatemala. Currently based at the ANCF (National Academy of Forestry Sciences), she is also a member of MIMOSZ, working closely with People and Plants programs in Sierra de Zongolica and Pahuatlán that collaborate with farmers and their organizations to support forest-based livelihoods and effective forest management practices. ResearchGate
Jaci van Niekerk
Jaci is a researcher based in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town. Her work focuses on the commercial use of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge, rural livelihoods, the protection of small-scale farmers’ rights, and peoples’ use of edible and medicinal plants. ResearchGate
Fortunata Panzo Panzo
Fortunata is from the Nahua community of Duraznotla in Tehuipango, Veracruz. She recently finished a Masters in Education for Sustainability and Interculturality, at the Universidad Veracruzana. Together with Citlalli López and Patricia Negreros she collaborated with a CONAFOR - People and Plants project to support smallholders in the region to more effectively monitor and manage their family-owned timber plantations. At present, she is teaching at the Universidad del Buen Vivir.
Adolfo Rebolledo-Morales
Adolfo has a PhD in Tropical Ecology from CITRO-UV, and his work focuses on ethnoecology and rural development. He is currently a full-time professor at the Benito Juárez García Universidad del Bienestar (UBBJ) in San Rafael, Urique, Chihuahua. With support from People and Plants, he is carrying out a project with the Warijö and Rarámuri indigenous communities of the Sierra Tarahumara to build native seed banks of corn, beans and other traditional crops, as a food security strategy.
Taro Ringgit
Taro is based in Malaysia, working with indigenous communities and other stakeholders on forest conservation and sustainable livelihood development. This includes a collaboration with the Kalimantan Tengkawang Network in Indonesia to support sustainable trade in illipe nut butter and oil. Taro is actively involved in the staging of Riak Bumi's Kapuas Hulu biennial traditional food and cultural revival festivals.
Tarin Toledo
Tarin is a forest ecology researcher at Instituto de Ecología A.C. in Veracruz, Mexico. Her recent work focuses in the restoration and sustainable management of tropical montane cloud forests, an ecosystem of global priority. She was distinguished by the Rainforest Alliance as a Kleinhans Fellow and is currently a National Geographic Explorer. ResearchGate
Miguel Angel Vega
A biologist with training in terrestrial ecology, PhD in Ecology and Biotechnology. He has experience in management and evaluation of forest pests, and training and monitoring of forest management and development. Miguel has also worked training producers on the management of family gardens.