Dr Emma STOKES

Regional Director, Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea, Wildlife Conservation Society

I oversee WCS's conservation operations and strategy development in the Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Nigeria. Our mission in Central Africa is to value nature as an integral part of the solution to the socio-economic and governance challenges in the places we work. Our program portfolio includes both terrestrial and marine conservation and natural resource management, and intersects protected areas, forests and climate change, rights-based conservation, private sector engagement and combating wildlife crime. I have over 20 years experience of conservation science, management and strategy development in tropical forests and have lived and worked in Central Africa for more than 15 years. I cut my teeth as a field biologist coordinating large-scale conservation assessment and monitoring programs for great apes and elephants in the Congo Basin and tigers in South East Asia. I am based in Kigali, Rwanda.