Research Officer on Biodiversity and head of ECOPRONAT program
Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Julien CALAS is a project engineer engaged for more than 30 years in sustainable development and management of natural resources in developing countries. He has a master’s degree in biology and then graduated as agronomic engineer AgroParisTech with a specialization in economics. He worked for 10 years in foreign countries and was in charge of fisheries, agriculture and biodiversity conservation portfolio for the “Agence Française de Développement” (AFD) in Senegal, Madagascar and Cambodia, with some investments in the banking systems and microfinance institutions. In August 2006 he moved to become the biodiversity program senior officer at the “Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial” (the FFEM, a French facility for the global environment). He was managing a project portfolio in marine and terrestrial biodiversity conservation, agrobiodiversity, conservation finance and the strengthening of civil society organization involved in conservation in developing countries. From September 2014, he was in charge of the environmental and rural sector evaluation program of the AFD’s evaluation and capitalization unit (ERS / EVA). Since January 2020, he has joined the AFD research department to develop a program on biodiversity mainstreaming and pro-nature economy. He works closely with macroeconomic modelling teams to incorporate biodiversity into their models and helps to develop methodologies for analysing physical and transition risks associated with nature degradation.