Jan Willem den Besten | Senior Expert Ecosystems & Climate

Jan Willem den Besten is coordinator of the Mobilising More for Climate program and leads IUCN NL’s conservation finance work. He has 30 years of experience in conservation, community and environmental management, and bringing together local communities, governments, companies and investors in efforts to mobilise finance for conservation.

He joined IUCN NL in 2012 after having worked for IUCN’s office in the United States on forest conservation and finance for three years. This followed a 17-year long career in the Indian Himalayas, where he set up and lead a human rights research and training center in the Tibetan exile community. Jan Willem also developed environmental management and conservation initiatives in India.

Jan Willem has a degree in Forest and Nature Development at Wageningen University and is in the last phase of a PhD research in the area of Sustainable Development Diplomacy. Outside office ours, Jan Willem is a fervent researcher of bird migration. He holds board positions in nature and human rights organisations and is Governor of the historic walled town of Woudrichem in North Brabant.