Mr Stewart MAGINNIS

Deputy Director General, Programme

Stewart Maginnis is the Deputy Director General for Programmes in IUCN.  Since 2008, he and his team have developed and promoted Nature-based Solutions as a framework for harnessing ecosystem management as a solution to socio-economic challenges.

Stewart Maginnis has worked in sustainable development and biodiversity conservation for 35 years, 15 of which were based Tanzania, Sudan, Ghana and Costa Rica.  He led the development and promotion of “forest landscape restoration” (FLR) – one of the first “purpose-built” Nature-based Solutions - to which over 60 countries have committed 180 million hectares under the Bonn Challenge.  He and his team at IUCN have worked over the last 12 years on defining and promoting the concept of Nature Based Solutions and supporting its application to climate change, food & water security and disaster risk reduction.  They and have just finalized a 2 year process to develop a global NBS standard.