David Fratt

David Fratt is a senior director with more than 25 years of experience working in environment and natural resource management in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the United States. During this time he has worked with various clients, including USAID, regional development banks, national and local governments,…

Kristin Dreiling

Kristin Dreiling is an international development and environmental management professional with more than 10 years of experience in community-driven development and project management. She was the knowledge management and learning specialist on USAID’s Climate Change Adaption, Thought Leadership, and Assessments (ATLAS) project.

Carlos Quintela

For over 30 years, Carlos E. Quintela has managed environment, climate, and sustainable finance programs. In 2020, he joined the Land Innovation Fund for Sustainable Livelihoods, established by Cargill and implemented by Chemonics. As a director and senior advisor for climate and environment at Chemonics, he led several USAID-funded projects: SERVIR and Climate Services Support…

Christopher Perine

Chris Perine is an environmental management specialist with over 25 years of international experience working on climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental impact assessment, urban environmental infrastructure development and natural resources management. He is currently the Managing Director for Chemonics’ Climate Group where he leads a team focused on delivering climate services, implementing Chemonics’ global…

A Roadmap for Conservation in Colombia

In December 2015, Colombia’s President Juan Manual Santos made a historic commitment to Colombia’s conservation efforts, promising to expand the National Protected Area System by 2.5 million hectares. The government of Colombia is also pursuing expansive rural development that aligns with its peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). To support these…

Helping Indonesian Coastal Communities Adapt to Climate Change

Indonesia’s archipelago contains almost 20 percent of the world’s coral reefs. Because these reefs house 90 percent of the fish caught by coastal fishers, they are vital to the maintenance of millions of the country’s jobs. However, unsustainable and destructive fishing practices have made fisheries in Indonesia less productive, resilient, and sustainable, threatening the national…

Steps Toward Better Water Management in the Limpopo Basin

The Limpopo River Basin supports large urban populations and the industrial heart of southern Africa. Social and commercial demands for already over-allocated water resources, however, make it difficult for the countries surrounding the basin to manage the shared water supply. Climate change has made the water supply increasingly variable, worsening the situation. The USAID Resilience…

3 Questions with Maria Olanda Bata: Withstanding Storms in Mozambique

What are the biggest risks if cities in Mozambique do not become more resilient? It would be a catastrophe. Right now, we’re starting to see the impact of extreme climate events, and we know they will get worse. Even minor-seeming weather events can cause significant problems. For example, it rained lot in the city of…

A Paradigm Shift is Necessary for REDD+ to Be Sustainable

In 2013 I wrote a book called Redeeming REDD: Policies, Incentives, and Social Feasibility for Avoided Deforestation, published by Earthscan. In the book I argue that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD, and the latest variant known as REDD+), needs a suite of enabling conditions, independent of market viability as well as measurement,…