AWF Experts at COP28

Andrea Athanas

Vice President, Enterprise and Investment

Andrea is responsible for AWF’s programmatic work with the business sector, shaping how financial flows for conservation in Africa make it to the ground, and overseeing AWF’s Program Design team. Bringing to the table 25 years of experience in landscape-scale conservation and development, Andrea develops pathways to sustainable growth, using nature-based business solutions and finance to drive a better future for people and wildlife. She is among the cadre of people creating a new generation of business models (working with the extractive, agriculture, and tourism sectors) that center around a regenerative relationship with nature and society. Andrea speaks English and French.

Dates in UAE: November 30 - December 5, 2023

Area of expertise: Sustainable finance, investments in Africa, agriculture and food systems, biodiversity economies, role of private sector, nature-based solutions, youth inclusion, peacebuilding in a changing climate, synergies across development, humanitarian and conservation sectors.

 

 

Mr. Charly Facheux

Senior Vice-President Conservation Strategy, Impact and Learning 

Charly Facheux has 25 years in strategy development, program implementation, and delivery across Africa. He is in charge of delivering AWF’s global strategy and conservation results. He began as a researcher focused on the economics of forest resources and joined AWF in 2009 as a senior program officer for the Congo landscape. He became known for high standards and a knack for motivating teams in difficult circumstances; thus, in 2015, he took on the role of vice president for conservation projects. As Senior VP today, he manages programs in dispersed, remote, and physically challenging geographies while strengthening community relationships and building strategic partnerships with public and private donors. He is a true advocate for promoting people-centric and practical policies with impact at all levels. Charly holds an M.S. in international management and external trade. Charly speaks English and French.

Dates in UAE: December 6 - 12, 2023

Area of expertise: Nexus of biodiversity and climate, Global Biodiversity Frramework, working with communities, localizing solutions, Congo Basin initiatives, African leadership and governance to deliver for climate, accountability mechanisms and rights-based approaches to conservation.

 

Nancy Githaiga

AWF Country Director, Kenya

Nancy is an environmental advocate with 15 years of experience in development and conservation. She is committed to realizing inter and intra-generational equity. She leads AWF’s programmatic work in Kenya with a keen focus on community impact and policy engagement. Her expertise in natural resource governance and management, backed by a graduate education in Climate Change and Applied Hydrology, fuels her passion for a just world where people and nature thrive. Inspired by community-driven conservation, she envisions sustainable development at scale and advocates for meaningful change. Nancy, a sociologist by practice, emphasizes the importance of her generation understanding the impact of their actions on nature, driven by the fear that they might be the last to address it. Nancy speaks English. 

Dates in UAE: November 30 - December 10, 2023

Area of expertise: Intergenerational equity, delivering for local communities, water resource management, local governance leadership delivering for climate, human-wildlife conflict, climate education, gender equity, food systems and agriculture.

 

Antoine Tabu

Country Coordinator-DRC/Deputy Chief of Party

Antoine holds a master’s degree equivalent in sociology and has 17 years of experience in natural resource management in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He joined AWF in 2005 as a technical assistant, then was promoted to serve as a program impact monitoring officer. From 2011 to 2015, he worked as project manager of AWF’s World Bank-funded Forest and Nature Conservation Project, then as senior project manager of USAID's Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment/ Central Africa Forest Ecosystems Conservation. In 2018, he was recruited by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) Biodiversity Programme as technical advisor for Lomami and Kahuzi-Biega national parks, but he returned to AWF in 2020. He currently is the AWF DRC Country Coordinator and Deputy Chief of the Party of the USAID/African Parks Network Community Based Counter Wildlife Trafficking activity project. As a researcher, he is interested in reconciling natural resource conservation with the development of local communities living on the periphery of protected areas. Tabu speaks English and French.

Dates in UAE: December 6 - 12, 2023

Area of expertise: Nexus of biodiversity and climate, working with communities, localizing solutions, Congo Basin initiatives, African leadership and governance to deliver for climate, technology and innovation.

 

For media inquiries, contact:
Eileen Kairu
Manager, Strategic Communications
African Wildlife Foundation
ekairu@awf.org
+254 711 063000