Trevor Sandwith is an ecologist and nature conservation strategist who promotes the integration of biodiversity conservation and protected areas in sustainable economic and social development. He has experience in the governance and management of protected area systems, and in mainstreaming biodiversity considerations into development policies and planning. At international level, he has specialized in transboundary governance of protected areas and in seeking recognition of ecosystem-based approaches to address climate change. Formerly deputy chair of IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas, he is now director of IUCN's Global Protected Areas Programme, and was the director of the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014. His immediate priority is to promote the fulfilment of the Promise of Sydney, including the priority recommendations for securing effective and equitably governed protected area programs that contribute significantly towards addressing global challenges. He is a Fellow of Session 557, Parks for the Planet Forum: Nature, Health and a New Urban Generation, in 2015.