Bio
Dr. Himlal Baral is a Principal Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF within the Climate Change, Energy, and Low Carbon Development team. Based in Bali, Indonesia, he brings over 30 years of expertise in forestry and natural resource management, specifically focusing on agroforestry, landscape restoration, and climate change mitigation. His research emphasizes the economic valuation of ecosystem services, the development of sustainable biomass energy, and the management of planted forests to foster resilient livelihoods. Dr. Baral’s work is dedicated to bridging the gap between scientific research and policy implementation to scale nature-based solutions—including the restoration of degraded peatlands, mountain forests, and drylands, as well as high-value agroforestry systems—across Asia and the Pacific. In addition to his leadership at CIFOR-ICRAF, he serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and is a key contributor to the CIFOR-ICRAF led Transformative Partnership Platform on Bioeconomy Solutions. He holds a PhD and MS from the University of Melbourne, where his pioneering research focused on spatial approaches to mapping and valuing ecosystem services in human-modified landscapes. Through his various roles, Dr. Baral continues to advocate for a sustainable circular bioeconomy that integrates environmental health with economic prosperity.

Bio
Natasha S. Ribeiro holds a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering from the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique, a MSc. in Management and Conservation of Biodiversity from the Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Costa Rica and a PhD in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia (UVa) in the USA. Natasha has more than 30 years of experience in teaching, researching and extension in fields of restoration ecology and forest fires. Her teaching experience includes national and international universities and coordination of academic development projects. In research, Natasha has initiated a long-term fire-related research program in the Niassa Special Reserve, one of the most important conservation areas in Mozambique, southern Africa. The program has helped defining conservation action in the country. Natasha has been appointed the coordinator of key missions in the country such as the National Strategy and Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation (NBSAP) under the UN Convention on Biodiversity. She also serves as member in several international forums such as the IUFRO Forest Fire taskforce and the FAO Fire Hub. Between 2011 and 2021 she was the regional coordinator of the Miombo Network of southern Africa. Natasha was the recipient of the 2017-2018 Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program grant, which she used to visit the University of Virginia. She coordinated the book “Miombo woodlands in a changing world: securing the resilience and sustainability of people and woodlands” which was published in 2020. She is the Editor in Chief (EiC) of the Journal Fire from MDPI (section on Science-Policy-Practitioner interface) and part of EiC group from Forest Ecology and Management Journal. She is also the coordinator IUFRO’s working party 1.02.03 on Ecology and Silviculture of dry tropical forests. Currently she is the Scientific Advisor of the UEM’s Vice-Chancellor.