Effective safeguards procedures are a crucial requirement to ensure that a project is doing what it is supposed to do without leaving anyone behind or – even worse – having negative unintended side-effects.

I’m familiar with the safeguards procedures and standards of several organisations and use this knowledge to compare classify projects into risk categories and compare their performance against the standards, national laws and international norms.

I also produce in-depth analyses to identify potential risks and develop corresponding mitigation measures right during the initial phase of the project. In this line of work, I have conducted more than 50 analyses of the political context, the human rights situation, potential environmental impacts and gender studies for more than 20 different projects in over 30 countries around the globe.

Indigenous peoples and local communities are the stewards for more than 80% of the world’s biodiversity. They are the best conservationists. Their intricate socio-cultural, economic and spiritual systems have protected natural landscapes for millennia. Nonetheless, today, they are more threatened than ever.

It is absolutely crucial, on the one hand, to understand IPLC’s contribution to the protection of nature and, on the other hand, to find ways to operationalise their land rights.

This line of work has not only been intertwined with my other work, but has been front and centre in a range of larger projects I have conducted. In 2019, I have researched a very effective land management instrument in Brazil (PGTAs) and put together a publication on this topic that was published 2021 by GIZ’s Brazil office. In 2021, I have helped to design a completely new project on community-based conservation and the protection of environmental defenders in Brazil and in 2022, I helped to develop from scratch an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for the WWF in Cameroon.

Projects are much more than numbers on monitoring sheets and, yes, sometimes life happens and it becomes hard to compare what is actually happening to what was set out to happen, both during the project implementation, to assess potential needs for course corrections, and during reporting.

I help organisations both to raise the numbers (even when they are hidden in the depths of partner organisations) and to make sense of them in the light of the requirements of project plans, goals and indicators established earlier. My knowledge of the different stages of project design and implementation helps me to guide organisations through this complex task, so they can focus on getting the actual work done in the best way possible.

In this line of work, I have helped projects to set up monitoring systems, conducted subsequent rounds of monitoring with employees and partners of projects and I have writing progress updates and final reports.

Designing a project in international development and conservation is not easy. I help your team to get it right by devising and implementing strategies that clearly identify crucial stakeholders and effectively involve them from day one. I know my way around complex procedural and legal requirements that shape the way projects are designed and can help projects to navigate them.

In this field, I have been Head of Mission for the evaluation mission that created a new project with indigenous and local communities in Brazil and have developed the first draft of an offer for a project on fire management with the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA).

Tools I use frequently in this line of work are meetings, break-away groups, actor mapping, SWOT analyses, writing offers and summaries, helping to design indicators, formulating goals and defining activities.