Cas Besselink | Legal expert & member of the management team

Born and raised next to a Dutch forest, Cas has been interested in nature and (g)astronomy most of his life. With a background in International Law and Dutch Criminal and Corporate Law, Cas has spent most of his career on nature conservation – working with IUCN NL since 1993 on a wide variety of subjects. He was responsible for the Netherlands and the World Ecology Program (IUCN NL’s footprint projects) and was chief editor of Ecology & Development, the magazine published over 15 years by the Committee on international nature protection and development issues.

Cas has gained experience over the years in projects describing the Dutch impact abroad by contributing to projects working on the impact of products and production methods on local biodiversity in producing countries. More recently, he has worked on large partner programmes carried out in Africa and Asia, particularly in Uganda, Cambodia and the Philippines and is currently working on the GLA program in Uganda. He is a member of IUCN NL’s management team and a senior expert on legal affairs. 

Publications a.o.: The Netherlands and the World Ecology, Mining in Tropical Regions (co-author), Dutch claims on territories abroad (co-author), Dutch Consumer Patterns and their impact on Biodiversity (IBIS) (co-author), The Congo Basin (editor).