Our project team in Bolivia and the UK

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Rolman Velarde, our agroforest manager based at Herencia. Rolman has overall responsibility for overseeing the seedling nurseries and developing agroforest plots. Together with Jazmin he also plays an essential role in liaising and developing our relationships with each community

Our project aims to reduce pressure on natural forests in the Pando by supporting Inga-based agroforest systems, identifying non-timber products and raising awareness of the economic and biodiversity value of these forests. This requires a dedicated team of people in Bolivia but also in the UK where some of the technical expertise and the funds reside. Our team comprises people from the Bolivian NGO Herencia, the  Noel Kempf Mercado Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Jazmín Daza, our community outreach and Bosque de los Niños coordinator. Jazmín is based with Herencia in Cobija, Bolivia and has helped set up the Bosque de los Ninos plots in the Pando

Managing a project across two continents and cultures is not always very straightforward but we have a very dedicated and hard-working team. Four months into our project we are finding the best ways to coordinate field activities, transfer funds and identify major unexpected issues. One of these has been the difficulty in getting a field-worthy vehicle in the Pando, an area with few skilled mechanics and hundreds of kilometres of pot-holed roads.

Amelia Baracat, responsible for overseeing project monitoring and finance. Amelia is based at Kew and has extensive experience of projects overseas and now in participative monitoring

Another challenge has been coordinating the planting of our rapidly growing seedlings with the Brazil nut harvest. Unfortunately our seedlings were ready to plant when most community members are out harvesting.

Alejandro Araujo Murakami is an experienced tropical ecologist and his role in the project is to collect, analyse and disseminate the biological data collected by the project in Pando. Alejandro is based at the Noel Kempf Mercado Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz

Bente Klitgård is responsible for quantifying the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services across our sites, for dissiminating the results and raising awareness locally, nationally as well as internationally. Bente is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Ana Maria Carrion Cuellar is a botanist. Her role is to help collect and analyse biodiversity and ecosystem services data. Ana Maria is based at the Noel Kempf Mercado Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz

Hopefully though we will be able to keep the seedlings in good condition long enough to be able to start planting in a couple of weeks.

Rodrigo Flores is a forestry technician helping manage the production of seedlings. Rodrigo is based at Herencia and is helping ensure that we have healthy seedlings to establish our agroforest plots

Terry Pennington is an expert on Inga and of its use in agroforestry having published detailed description and illustrations of all ca 300 species and spent many years researching and promoting their use in agroforestry culminating in his 1998 book on Inga utilization. Terry’s role is to provide technical advice and trouble-shooting as well as oversee the final product.

Terry Pennington is the World’s expert on the genus Inga, the group of trees that we believe are best suited to agroforestry in this region

My role is to work with Jazmín, Rolman, Rodrigo and our four communities to oversee the agroforest and non-timber forest product component of the project.

I am responsible fro the agroforest component of the project. Currently on secondment from the Natural History Museum my role is to ensure that together with our team we deliver agroforests that are appropriate for each community in a timely manner

William Milliken leads the Tropical America Team at Kew and has many years of experience in ethnobotany and the plants of South America.  He is the Principle Investigaor for the project and responsible for ensuring that the whole project is a success.

William Milliken has overall responsibility for the project and is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all the aspects of the project on time and in-budget.

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