Roland Cedric Goetz
Technical Advisor, KAZA Ministry of Culture Tourism and Environment Angola
Good Afternoon I an A South African Working in Angola a a Game Ranger. I started my Conservation Career Working in the Durban Museum in Ornithological and Small Mammal Research. I then left and joined the Natal Parks Board as a Ranger, working first in the Natal Drakensberg ( Afro Alpine) then Hluhluwe -Umfolozi Complex ( African Big Five Savannah ) then Coastal Region ( Rocky Shores Estuaries Mangrove Woodlands ,Sandy Beaches and Coral Reefs) Left the NPB and took over from Dr. Ian Player as Director of the Wilderness Leadership School father of the Wild Foundation. As part of the Wilderness Foundation SA founded Msinsi Holdings a private Conservation Management Organisation, from there to Angola as Director of Kissama National Park, a National Park on the Atlantic Coast of 10,000 Sq Kms. 120 Kms of Coast with two major river systems with Sea Turtles, Mangroves and Manatee in the River System. Was involved with the then biggest Aerial Translocation of Big Game from SA. to Angola.Then to Luingui-Luina- Mavinga National Parks 94,000 Sq Kms as a Technical Advisor to the Minister of Environment current delayed currently in Durban SA because of the Covid lock down!
Master in Animal Biology, with a deep interest in biodiversity conservation, restoration and climate change. Former collaborator of CoalitionWILD and the Global Rewilding Alliance. Former Coordinator of Actions and Partnerships at Plant-for-the-Planet Brazil and Co-Director at Youth Climate Leaders, currently working as a Climate Change Specialist at WWF-Brazil.
I was born in Switzerland, but my current home is Costa Rica where I have been living with my wife and daughter for the last 25 years. Over two decades, I have developed extensive knowledge in sustainability topics along with a wide experience in designing, fundraising, and implementing conservation biology programs, biological corridors, project planning, implementation and monitoring, the leadership of inter-institutional alliances at the national, bi-national, regional and international level, as well as in the creation of protected areas. My areas of expertise include biodiversity, landscape issues, connectivity conservation, transboundary conservation, protected areas, and World Heritage Sites, sustainable development, wildlife, governance, and ecosystem conservation. I have worked for local and international NGOs and the academy, and define myself as a passionate conservation practitioner compromised with high standards of excellence, and a team player able to build strong intercultural relationships. I love trail running, photography, reading, cooking, traveling, and meeting new people from different cultural contexts. I am fluent in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, with limited working proficiency in German and Indonesian. I am currently learning Mandarin and Arabic.