Board

Bastien Beaufort

Bastien Beaufort is graduated is Ms. in Economics, Business and Administration (ISG Paris), has a Ms. in Geography and a PhD in Geography and Territorial Organization (both University of Paris 3). He is Deputy General Manager of Guayapi (Paris) a fair trade and organic company, cofounder of the Disco Soupe international movement, President of Slow Food Paris Bastille and coordinator of the Slow Food Youth Network International. He is a Latin American Expert of the International Working Groupe of Indigenous People Affairs GIPTA (France). He works closely with the Sateré Mawé indigenous people of Brazil around the Waraná Project (Parintins, Brazil and Paris, France)”.

Tatiana Espinosa

Tatiana lives and works in the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios and is President of the ARBIO Association in Peru, dedicated to promoting productive conservation and the valuing of Amazonian biodiversity. She has extensive experience in forest management in the Peruvian Amazon and in processes of social adaptation to climate change. ARBIO is developing a pilot AF site in Madre de Dios to demonstrate and disseminate the AF methodology.

Wirsiy Eric Fondzenyuy

Eric studied at the Dschang University Centre, Cameroon, graduating with a BSc in agriculture in 1990. He worked with Cameroon’s Ministry of Agriculture as subject matter specialist in charge of vegetable and food crops and later joined Limbe Botanic Garden (LBG) as an Agricultural Extension Officer.

Eric started environmental work in 2002, working part time, as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for CENDEP but he now serves as Knowledge Management Officer. He has developed, sourced funding for, and managed several projects both for the LBG and CENDEP in the fields of natural resource management and sustainable agriculture.

María Cristina Criollo

I’m María Cristina Criollo, “Cris.” I was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Sustainable Development, a Master’s Degree in Environmental and Social Studies, and I am a certified specialist on climate change and strategic planning. I am the Development Director of the Be It Foundation in the USA and co-founder of La Cuchara Cultural and Gastronomic Center, an award-winning organic plant-based restaurant and fair trade store in Quito. I moved to the Bay Area in 2017 with my family, and currently work in social media marketing, sustainable business development and fundraising. I am a Board Member of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center, and live in West Marin with my husband and two children.

Jean Arnold

Jean Arnold lives and works in rural New Brunswick, Canada. She has been the Executive Director of Falls Brook Centre and is currently the president of The Tree Project. This position allows her to build on an impressive legacy of restoration through Analog Forestry techniques.

In recognition of her contributions to the environmental sector in Canada and abroad, Jean has been the recipient of a number of awards and sat on the boards of several prominent NGOs. She is an accredited Organic Agriculture Inspector and an Analog Forestry Trainer. Additionally, she grows a large organic garden every year to feed the many visitors, guests and extended family visiting her home. She has 4 children and 3 grandchildren.

Milo Bekins Faries

Naturalized Costa Rican citizen, Milo has been a forest farmer for many years in Costa Rica working his Analog Forestry (AF) family farm. The farm, Finca Fila Marucha, has, as its principle objective, the production of Carbon biomass, but it does produce spices, medicinal plants, fruits, and food stuffs. The farm also serves as an AF demonstration and training site.

Apart from being the Chairperson of the IAFN from 2005-2013, Milo has worked as a community organizer, leading organizations such as the Development Council of Londres, ASADA Water Aqueduct Association, Union of Development Councils in the County of Aguirre, AF Commission for CATIE, and the Regional Council on the Environment.

Ranil Senanayake

Ranil holds a PhD in Systems Ecology at U.C. Davis. He was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne where he worked on the development of the Australian Land Care Strategy and taught Applied Forest Ecology at the Monash University at Melbourne. He developed the concept of Analog Forestry that has attracted a global network of practitioners.

Ranil has served on the Biodiversity sub-committee (IFOAM), developed the certification system ‘Green Gold’ for responsible mining in Colombia and instituted the Association for Responsible Mining in Ecuador. He has also developed standards for the Certification of Forest Garden Products (FGP), a system to evaluate Analog Forestry restoration and production projects. He is currently working on a synthesis of herbal healing knowledge at his research station ‘Cayambe’ in Sri Lanka, while also conducting research on sustainable landscape management and lobbying to set values on photosynthetic biomass globally.

IAFN / RIFA