Arturo Izurieta Valery

Arturo Izurieta Valery has extensive experience in research and management of protected areas and local communities in islands, emphasizing the relationship between environmental health and human wellbeing. He has worked for more than 30 years on strategic projects and facilitating relations between government authorities, local actors, academia and science from Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Australia, Malaysia and Central America.

Dr. Izurieta has a post-doctorate degree at Charles Darwin University, Australia with studies of participatory processes to evaluate the collaborative management of protected areas in the Northern Territory, Australia, and a Doctorate (PhD) in Management of Rural and Natural Systems at the University of Queensland, Australia. He has a Master's degree in Management and Conservation of Biodiversity at CATIE, Costa Rica in 1997, and a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in 1991. He also has an appointment as Research Associate at the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL), Charles Darwin University, Australia, since 2011.

He was Director of the Galapagos National Park and Marine Reserve from 1991 to 1995 and from 2013 to 2015, and Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands from 2015-2020. He worked as Advisor to the Presidency of the Galapagos Government Council (CGREG) on international cooperation, linking projects of provincial need in the social and environmental fields with multilateral, bilateral and NGO funding sources. 

He is currently an independent consultant on protected areas, natural resources, and sustainability.  He coordinates the Oceans, Coasts and Islands Group of the Ecuadorian NGO, CEDENMA.