Dr. Erwin Widodo is the Jakarta-based Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator for the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) 2020, a global public-private partnership in which partners take voluntary actions to reduce tropical deforestation associated with the sourcing of commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef, and paper and pulp. He is a scientist with over 20 years of extensive research in tropical ecology and forest management, where his time was spent on location throughout Asia working with various organizations to develop effective conservation and advocacy strategies. These leading groups include ICCTF, WWF, Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, The Nature Conservancy and Yayasan KEHATI Indonesia.
Dr. Widodo’s working capacity is to bridge engagement with community projects, scientific research, private enterprise and government policy-makers to promote the importance of preserving the scarce forests that remains for the future. His focus is on the lowlands, which are targeted for deforestation due to their ease of access and land conversion. Yet it is this area that holds the most peatland and carbon sinks which are essential to curb the severity of climate change. Dr. Widodo’s current work on TFA uses a four-pronged approach: spatial planning, conservation management, sector reform and sustainable financing.
Dr. Widodo has a BSc in Biology from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and a GLS in Global Policy and Diplomacy from Georgetown University. He obtained a PhD in Bio-resources Production and Energy Sciences from Kobe University.
