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

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

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 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 government or any ot ...

solutions to

environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

Education

Castro de la Mata received a Ph.D. in

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

and Population Biology from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

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

Cayetano Heredia University Cayetano Heredia University ( es, link=no, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, 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 Peruv ...

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 A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One ton of carb ...

s through avoiding

deforestation of the Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering an area of 3,000,000 km2 (2,316,612.95 square miles). It represents over half of the planet's rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropi ...

(

REDD Redd is a Turkish rock band established in 1996 by tenor opera singer Doğan Duru and guitarist Berke Hatipoğlu under the name ''Ten''. They used to play at bars until they set up their own studio in 2004. Their first album, titled ''"50/50" ...

). 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 or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

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 (PO ...

, 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 grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. 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 membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Its focus is on threats to birds in the Western Hemisphere – threats which include ov ...

, 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 (Spanish and Portuguese for ''mud'' or ''clay'') may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Barro Humano'', a 1929 Brazilian film * '' El Dios de barro'', a 1970 Mexican telenovela * '' Entre el barro'', a 1939 Argentine musical fil ...

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 and ''Diario Altavoz''.

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