Gonzalo Castro de la Mata (full name Gonzalo Castro de la Mata Valdivia) is a Peruvian

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and writer born in Lima, Peru. He is recognized as a global leader in the promotion of sustainability with emphasis on innovative

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

solutions to

environmental issues Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

Education

Castro de la Mata received a Ph.D. in

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and Population Biology from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1988, and M.Sc. in Biophysics (1985) and B.Sc. in Biology (1983) degrees from

Cayetano Heredia University Cayetano Heredia University (, UPCH; or simply ''Cayetano Heredia'') is a private nonprofit university located in Lima, Peru. It was named in honor of Cayetano Heredia, one of the eminent Peruvian physicians of the 19th century. The universit ...

in Lima, Peru.

Career

Gonzalo Castro de la Mata became the first Executive Director of th
Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future
in Doha, in 2022. He has been the Chairman of the

World Bank's Inspection Panel The Inspection Panel is an independent accountability mechanism of the World Bank. It was established in September 1993 by the World Bank Board of Directors, and started operations on August 1, 1994. The Panel provides a forum for people who bel ...

,

and the founder of Ecosystem Services LLC, a company that generates

carbon offset Carbon offsetting is a carbon trading mechanism that enables entities to compensate for offset greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere. When an entity invests in a carbon offsetting ...

s through avoiding

deforestation of the Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, spanning an area of 3,000,000 km2 (1,200,000 sq mi), is the world's largest rainforest. It encompasses the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest on the planet, representing over half of all rainforests. The ...

(

REDD Redd may refer to: * Redd (band), a Turkish rock band established in 1996 by singer Doğan Duru and guitarist Berke Hatipoğlu * Redd (biology), the spawning ground of a salmon * ''Redd'' (EP) * Redd (given name), a masculine given name * Re ...

). Previously, he was the Managing Director of Sustainable Forestry Management (SFM) for the Americas, where he was responsible for seminal investments that generated some of the first carbon credits from native plantations and forest conservation, globally. He has also been the Head of

Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

at the

Global Environment Facility The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (P ...

, the largest source of funds to address global environmental challenges, and a Lead Environmental Specialist at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. He was also Director of WWF’s Latin American and Caribbean Program in Washington, and founder and CEO of Wetlands for the Americas. Earlier in his career, Castro de la Mata published widely in the scientific literature on the ecology and energetics of long distance bird migration, with emphasis on migratory shorebirds. Some important papers include "Assimilation Efficiency of Sanderlings (Calidris alba) Feeding on Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Eggs" and "Ecology and Energetics of Sandlerlings Migrating to Four Latitudes".

Board memberships and awards

Castro de la Mata has been involved in the founding of leading international conservation organizations, including Wetlands for the Americas (today

Wetlands International Wetlands International is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from ...

), and

American Bird Conservancy American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a non-profit organization, non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC is the second BirdLife International partner in the United ...

, where he served as a board member for six years. He has served as chair of the Independent Advisory Panel on Development Issues in South-Central Peru, focusing on the Camisea project
The final report of the Panel is the most comprehensive account of this complex project
In 2013, he was one of the two high-level independent international experts engaged by the United Nations to assess the social end ecological impacts of the

Barro Blanco Dam Barro Blanco is a gravity dam on the Tabasara River in the Chiriqui Province of Panama. It began generating in 2017 with capacity of 28.56 MW. Although the government had authorized the dam, it suspended construction in February 2015 after protest ...

in Panama, which found serious consultation deficiencies in indigenous communities. He has also served as president of various companies, and as a member of the Supervisory Council of

, where he was appointed Counselor of Honor in 2021. He was recognized by the United States Forest Service with the Outstanding Achievement in Conservation Award in 2017. In 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for the period 2022 - 2024. As a writer, in 2014 he was awarded the Prize "Peruanos al Bicentenario" (Bicentennial Prize) by ''Diario El Comercio'' in the Environmental Category for his essay "Pais de Leyenda".

Media and press appearances

He has appeared in numerous publications in topics related to ecology, environment, mining, oil and gas, and sustainable development, and is a regular editorial contributor to ''El Comercio'' in Lima, Peru, ''Diario Altavoz'', and The Peninsula in Doha.

Books and publications

Published books include "Un Mendigo Sentado en un Banco de Oro: Reflexiones sobre Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente en el Peru" and the fictional work "12 Historias Macabras" (12 Macabre Stories). Other selected works include:
Napoleon's Last Interview.
People's, Spaces, Deliberation. The World Bank. 2015.
Civilization, Civilizations, and Art at the World Bank.

Pais de Leyenda. 2015. Diario El Comercio.

Un Mendigo Sentado Sobre un Banco de Oro: Reflexiones sobre Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente en el Peru
2005. 102 Pp., Lima, Peru. * La Agenda Ambiental para el 2013. El Comercio. Enero 9, 2013. * Seeking Opportunities from New Patterns in Global Trade. Pages 10–14 in: Sustainability Report 2010. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC. * Conservation Financing in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Long Road to Sustainability. 2002. WWF, Washington, DC. * Mapping Conservation Investments: An Assessment of Biodiversity Funding in Latin America and the Caribbean. 2001. Biodiversity Support Program, Washington, DC. 80 Pp. * The Global Water Crisis and Freshwater Ecosystem Conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Predicted Trends and Proposed Policy Responses. 1997. World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC, 80 Pp.

Personal life

He is the son of

Ramiro Castro de la Mata Ramiro Castro de la Mata (full name Ramiro Castro de la Mata y Caamaño) ( Huanuco, Peru, September 5, 1931 - Lima, Peru, December 27, 2006) was a physician, scientist, pharmacologist, professor and founder of the University Cayetano Heredia in Li ...

y Caamaño and Elsa Valdivia Vargas.

External links

Ecosystem Services LLC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro de la Mata, Gonzalo Peruvian environmentalists Peruvian businesspeople People from Lima 1961 births Living people