Vasco van RoosmalenCo Founder

Brazil - Federal District

Trained as a political scientist, I have dedicated my professional career to finding technical, legal and political solutions to major challenges for sustainable development and specifically territorial management. I have twenty years of experience in community outreach methodologies with a focus on developing innovative tools and partnerships.

In 1999 I directed the first indigenous cultural mapping project in the Brazilian Amazon and subsequently assisted 25 indigenous communities in mapping over 20 million hectares of indigenous lands. The methodology developed under these initiatives became official government policy in 2012. I also supported the development of the first Indigenous-led REDD+ project in Brazil, implemented with the support of Google Earth Outreach, Natura as well as other numerous partners. During this process I became one of the first people in Brazil to officially register Verified Carbon credits from a validated REDD+ project.

As executive director and founder of the Brazilian organisation “Equipe de Conservacao da Amazonia- Ecam”, I am responsible for the implementation of a USAID-funded technology initiative in partnership with Google Earth Outreach to develop and share digital mapping tools with all traditional communities in the Brazilian Amazon. Another key initiative underway is the Sustainable Territories Program implemented together with the Mineracao Rio do Norte (MRN), the largest bauxite producer in Brazil, and NGO partners to implement a new model for regional development and stakeholder relations.

Specialties: Institutional development, strategic partnerships, project development, project implementation and management, proposal development, community outreach, free prior and informed consent processes, government relations, public/private partnership development.