
Who we are
Our Network brings together the world’s most influential NGOs, producers, supply chain companies, technical service providers and voluntary sustainability standards.
The Network is a member-based organization that promotes the High Conservation Value (HCV) Approach, a three-step methodology to identify and protect ecosystems, biodiversity, and the needs of local communities and indigenous groups where development takes place.
Governance
The Network was founded in 2005 to set the standard for implementation of the High Conservation Value (HCV) Approach. It is formed by Members and Supporters from four constituencies and is governed by a Management Committee.
Non-profit organizations
Forest Peoples Programme
World Resources Institute
WWF
Producer/Supply Chain Companies
April
Olam
Golden Agri Resources
Standards
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
Forest Stewardship Council
Technical Service Providers
Proforest
Non-profit organizations
Earthworm Indonesia
GIZ
Forest Peoples Programme
Fauna & Flora International
Centro de Producción Nacional Más Limpia de Honduras
BIOREF IPB
World Resources Institute
WWF
Producer/Supply Chain Companies
April
Olam
Golden Agri Resources
Asia Pulp and Paper (APP)
Standards
Bonsucro
Better Cotton
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
Soil Association
Round Table on Responsible Soy Association
Rainforest Alliance
Forest Stewardship Council
Technical Service Providers
QIMA IBD
BioAp
Preferred by Nature
Ecotrop
Tropenbos Indonesia
Hollow-wood Enterprises Pty. Ltd.
PT Hijau Daun
Remark Asia
Proforest
Ekologika
Daemeter
Aksenta
Mondi
Wilmar
Zoological Society of London
Sime Darby
Wilderness Society
The Biodiversity Consultancy
Nativa Meio Ambiente
Our History
The HCV Approach was born in the 1990s. A decade later, the Network was founded to steward and promote global uptake of the methodology.
Governance: Secretariat
The Secretariat runs the Network’s day-to-day operations. It provides quality assurance, learning opportunities, tools and guidance, and technical support to ensure robust implementation of the methodology in all ecosystems (land-based, aquatic), scales (local, regional, national), and development contexts (forestry, agribusiness, other).

Ana Sofía Lorda

Ana Sofía Lorda
Sofia's love for nature and oceans developed while vacationing every summer to the beaches of the Mexican Pacific. But her passion did not materialise after earning a bachelor's degree in Biology from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. During her time as a BSc student, Sofía worked as a research assistant in the Biosystematics Laboratory and then interned at Pronatura Noreste for six months, where she was involved in restoration, reforestation, and community garden centre projects. Once she completed her degree, Sofía interned at HCV Network, where she was later promoted to Assistant Project Manager. There, she worked with the Network in various projects including the integration of the HCV-HCS approaches; the research on challenges of HCV management and monitoring in certified palm oil plantings; and the development of risk-based approaches to HCV identification. In 2018, she was awarded a CONACyT Scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Management at the University of Oxford. Her interests range from tropical conservation and marine ecology to environmental management and supply chain certification.Sofía is currently based in Costa Rica, and speaks Spanish, English, and French.

Anders Lindhe

Anders Lindhe
Anders has been involved with conservation and certification for more than twenty years, including four years as forest officer for WWF Sweden, and six years as WWF International forest certification and HCV officer. He has participated in numerous national and international FSC processes and working groups, helped to create and develop the HCV concept, and coordinated the FSC Plantations Review. Anders also assisted setting up of the HCV Resource Network, co-facilitated the RTRS standard-setting process, and was a member of the RSPO Biodiversity and HCV Working Group and Compensation Task Force 2011-2016. Other work over the years include developing WWF’s Paper Scorecard and Certification Assessment Tool, assisting Swedish public procurement of wood products, and supporting national implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive. Anders joined the HCVRN as full time Technical Manager in 2013. His current work focuses on risk-based implementation of the HCV concept for smallholders and on procedures for participatory forest monitoring. He has a PhD in conservation biology (Uppsala) and a degree in chemistry and botany (Stockholm). Anders is also a licensed teacher with long experience from training practitioners in the field.

Arie Soetjiadi

Arie Soetjiadi
Arie has a background in botany and landscape ecology. He has more than 10 years of experience in conservation including research, natural resource management and certification. Prior to joining the HCV Network, Arie worked as an FSC FM certification coordinator at Rainforest Alliance Asia Pacific. He has also worked in development aid projects for mangrove conservation in East Kalimantan under the CIM/GIZ returning expert program. Arie has completed formal FSC and SAN Lead Auditor trainings and has conducted numerous FSC, SAN and Timber Legality verification audits/assessments in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Lao, PDR, Singapore and PNG. He graduated from the University of Hohenheim, Germany.Arie is based in Bali, Indonesia and is fluent in English, German and Bahasa Indonesia.

Celia Pearson

Celia Pearson
Celia has over 30 years’ experience in finance working in a wide range of industries, including scientific research, medicine and manufacturing as well as in practice. She trained with one of the top 10 Accountancy firms in London before moving into industry. She now runs her own accountancy and tax practice and assists the Secretariat on a part time basis. She is based in the UK.

Dongdong Xiao

Dongdong Xiao
Dongdong is currently a PhD student in Sustainable Construction from Bartlett School UCL and holds a master’s degree in Business Management from The University of Edinburgh Business School. She has previous experience in the construction and commercial real estate sectors, where she helped multinational brands on corporate properties’ pro-environmental and pro-social certifications (LEED and WELL) and provided energy-saving design consultancy for high-end hotels and office buildings in China. She has several years of experience in project management (PRINCE2 Practitioner accreditation) and possesses a mixed professional background in both industry and academia. Dongdong is passionate about sustainability, especially from the perspective of organisational behaviour and psychology and will ensure sustainable operations at the HCV Network Secretariat.Dongdong is based in London and is fluent in English and native to Chinese Mandarin.

Ellen Watson

Ellen Watson
Ellen is an environmental anthropologist and conservationist by training. Her professional experience includes community conservation and development, protected area conservation, land use planning and responsible commodity production. She lived and worked in Africa (Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania) for several years and has field experience in many other African countries, Thailand and Costa Rica. Before joining the Secretariat she worked for Proforest, where her projects as part of the responsible production team took her to 16 countries. She has worked with the HCV approach since 2011, conducting HCV assessments and trainings and producing guidance and technical documents. Ellen helped develop the HCV Assessor Licensing Scheme and more recently led on developing the manual and supporting documents for HCV-HCSA Assessments. She has an MSc in Environmental Anthropology from University College London and a Masters in Environmental Management from Yale University. Ellen is based in the UK and speaks English and French.

Felicia Lasmana

Felicia Lasmana
Felicia Lasmana is a conservation biologist based in Indonesia, specialized on bats and other mammals. Felly has over 10 years’ experience with baseline surveys, investment due diligence, policy analysis and development, conservation management, and High Conservation Value (HCV) assessments. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and MSc in Environmental Sciences at Padjadjaran University, Indonesia and MSc in Conservation Biology from University of Kent, UK. She has been trained in in forestry, tropical ecology, ecosystem services and sustainable agriculture in Malaysia, China, and Indonesia. Felly is an ALS Fully Licensed HCV assessor (ALS14007FL), a Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Lead Auditor and an Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) approved auditor. She has been involved in HCV assessments and lead biodiversity surveys specialized in mammals in forestry and oil palm in Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar since 2012.

Haryo Ajie Dewanto

Haryo Ajie Dewanto
Haryo holds a BS in Forest Management from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia and and MSc. in Natural Resources from the School of the Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA. His research focused on spatial modeling for forest ecosystem restoration in peat-landscapes and participatory approaches to building comprehensive spatial planning for rural communities in Central Kalimantan (Borneo). Haryo was a Climate and Geographic Information System (GIS) Program Coordinator in Rimba Raya Conservation (Biodiversity Reserve), an ecosystem restoration concession in Indonesia. In this role, Haryo worked on issues related to forest conservation, restoration, biodiversity reserve management, community development as well as application of REDD+ in Central Kalimantan. Haryo is based in Indonesia and speaks Bahasa Indonesia and English.

Jimena Frojan

Jimena Frojan
With a background in Environmental Sciences, Jimena has extensive experience in sustainable supply chains certifications, as an auditor and as the technical manager of a certification scheme. She has experience with the coordination of multi-stakeholder processes and with managing complex projects. Jimena is based in Argentina and speaks fluent Spanish and English, and moderate Portuguese.

Olivia Scholtz

Olivia Scholtz
Olivia joined the HCV Network after many years of managing landscape-level conservation projects mostly in Africa, but also in South America and Australia. She is an expert in wildlife protection and monitoring and brought these skills to recent HCV assessments she contributed to in Central Africa. Before formally joining the Secretariat team, Olivia supported the HCV Network with HCV-HCSA assessment training for Licensed Assessors and as a member of the ALS Quality Panel. Olivia's projects will focus on working with Standards to adopt and implement the HCV Approach, while also providing technical input on tools for HCV Identification, Management and Monitoring, and ongoing support to quality assurance. Olivia has a Master and PhD in Tropical Ecology from the Natural History Museum, Imperial College and Plymouth University. Olivia is based in France and speaks English and French.

Paulina Villalpando

Paulina Villalpando
Paulina joined the Secretariat in 2012 as Coordinator, in 2015 she became Executive Director, and from November 2020 she is Global Director. She has previously worked in the energy, telecommunications and biofuels sectors in South and Central America, and has worked for several NGOs and for the Mexican government, where she helped create and implement a biofuels research and development network in ten countries. Before joining the Secretariat she developed an index to promote sustainable land investments in African countries, and helped several Latin American leaders develop strategies for urban resilience to climate change. Paulina has an MSc. in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University, and a B.A. in International Relations with specialization in environmental politics from Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City. Paulina is based in London and speaks English, Spanish and basic French.

Rod Taylor

Rod Taylor
Rod is the Global Director of the Forests Program, with oversight of Global Forest Watch, the Forest Legality Initiative and the Global Restoration Initiative, at the World Resources Institute (WRI). Previously he was Director for Forests at WWF International and provided oversight of WWF’s work on forest conservation and its engagement with the private sector through the Global Forest Trade Network and the New Generation Plantations Project. He was the Editor in Chief of WWF’s ‘Forests for a Living Planet’ series. For several years he worked as a forest policy advisor in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He began his career as a lawyer in Australia and has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law from the Australian National University. Rod is a Legal Director of the Network since 2015.

Ruth Silva

Ruth Silva
Ruth is an anthropologist with more than 20 years of experience in sustainable development and conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. She has worked for WWF and OXFAM GB on implementing projects and programmes focused on forest governance, FSC certification, sustainable livelihoods, natural resources management, community development, and equitable alliances between communities and the private sector. With WWF, she supported community forest certification, the implementation of the stepwise approach to certification, and the development of the national standards for Brazil Nut Certification in Peru. She has also worked with Rainforest Alliance in several assessments and peer reviews under the FSC standard. Ruth graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. She is based in the UK and speaks English and Spanish.

Stephan Wulffraat

Stephan Wulffraat
Stephan has been dedicated to nature conservation from an early age on. While still being a student, he participated in conservation projects in the Netherlands, Ireland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Senegal since the 1980’s. He holds a bachelor degree in Tropical Forestry and a master degree in Landscape Ecology. He moved to Indonesia in the early 1990’s to follow his professional dedication first for a mangrove restoration project, and later on for more than 20 years as a conservation director for WWF. For several years he conducted biodiversity expeditions to remote areas in Borneo and coordinated long-term applied research at field stations. He contributed to the development of comprehensive management plans for national parks and conservation landscapes, engaging with all stakeholders and ensuring the participation of local communities. Stephan started to apply the HCV approach soon after it was initiated as a basis for environmental impact assessments and recommendations of buffer zones and plantation areas surrounded by natural forests throughout Indonesia. Stephan is based in the Netherlands and speaks English, Indonesian and Dutch.

Vasco Ferreira da Costa

Vasco Ferreira da Costa
Vasco holds a BSc in Human Geography and a MSc. in Development studies and Environment from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. His research focused on the recognition of rural communities needs during the definition of new protected areas using the High Conservation Value (HCV) Approach with a particular interest in socio-economic and cultural aspects in São Tomé Island. In São Tomé, he worked for Birdlife International where he conducted a preliminary assessment of ecosystem services (ES) in the country through participatory focus groups workshops to identify the most important ES for the communities and their perception of availability change on an alternative scenario. Vasco is based in Switzerland and speaks Portuguese, French, English and Spanish.

Yudi Iskandarsyah

Yudi Iskandarsyah
Yudi has extensive experience in research, conservation and management of natural resource, including forest and palm oil certification practices. Before joining the HCVRN Secretariat, he worked for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (LEI), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), Rainforest Alliance and NEPCon. He obtained his forestry degree from Bogor Agricultural University and a master’s degree on Environmental Management from Yale University where he focused on social ecology and community development. Yudi has more than seven years' experiences in natural and forest plantation audits in environment and social aspects. He has completed training for FSC Forest Management Audit, Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS), Sustainable Agricultural Network (SAN) and ISO 9000:2015. He is also registered as a Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) auditor. He has participated in field assessments across timber, palm oil, and other sectors. Yudi is based in Indonesia and speaks English and Bahasa Indonesia.
Our Partnerships


Aquaculture Stewardship Council
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is the world’s leading certification scheme for farmed seafood – known as aquaculture – and the ASC label only appears on food from farms that have been independently assessed and certified as being environmentally and socially responsible. In 2021, the HCV Network and ASC formalised their collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU represents the first step in a fruitful relationship aimed at conserving HCVs in aquaculture. Although, existing guidance on the use of the HCV Approach currently focuses mainly on forestry and agriculture, the HCV Approach is however generic, and in principle also applicable to aquatic production systems. Through this MoU, this is recognised by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) in their ASC agricultural standard, in which the protection of HCV areas is mentioned in the context of expansion.


Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures - TNFD
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a global, market-led initiative, established with the mission to develop and deliver a risk management and disclosure framework for organizations to report and act on evolving nature-related risks, with the aim of supporting a shift in global financial flows away from nature-negative outcomes and toward nature-positive outcomes.
In April 2022, the HCV Network joined the TNFD Forum. The TNFD Forum, composed of over 400 members, is a world-wide and multi-disciplinary consultative network of institutional supporters who share the vision and mission of the task force.
By participating in the Forum, the HCV Network contributes to the work and mission of the taskforce and help co-create the TNFD Framework which aims to provide recommendations and advice on nature-related risks and opportunities relevant to a wide range of market participants, including investors, analysts, corporate executives and boards, regulators, stock exchanges and accounting firms.


World Benchmarking Alliance
From May 2022, the HCV Network is an ally at the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA). WBA is building a diverse and inclusive movement of global actors committed to using benchmarks to incentivise, measure, and monitor corporate performance on the SDGs, and will assess and rank the performance of 2,000 of the world’s most influential companies against seven systems of transformation by 2023.
The scope of WBA’s circular transformation was expanded to cover nature and biodiversity as recognition of the need for greater understanding, transparency and accountability of business impact on our environment. The WBA Nature Benchmark was launched in April 2022, which will be used to rank keystone companies on their efforts to protect our environment and its biodiversity. As HCV Areas are recognised as key areas important for biodiversity, companies that publicly disclose their actions to identify and protect HCVs will contribute to the assessment of their performance against the benchmark.


High Carbon Stock Approach
The High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) is an integrated conservation land use planning tool to distinguish forest areas in the humid tropics for conservation, while ensuring local peoples’ rights and livelihoods are respected.
In September 2020, HCV Network and the HCSA Steering Group signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their collaboration to conserve forests and uphold community rights in tropical forests. The HCS and HCV Approaches are cornerstones of corporate no deforestation and conservation commitments, and increasingly for actors working at different scales. The collaboration aims to further support effective implementation of these commitments through increased uptake of the HCV and HCS tools.
Through this MoU, HCSA and HCVRN are pursuing two main strategic goals:
- Strive to promote the application of the two approaches in tropical moist forest landscapes and explore further opportunities for collaboration.
- Ensure that, where the two approaches are applied together, this happens in a coordinated, robust, credible, and efficient manner, so that HCS forests and HCVs are conserved, and local peoples’ rights are respected.


Femexpalma
In April 2022, FEMEXPALMA and the HCV Network signed a 5-year cooperation agreement to promote sustainable production of palm oil in Mexico. FEMEXPALMA is a Mexican independent entity that represents palm production at the national level and promotes the increase of productivity in a sustainable way.
With global markets becoming stricter, for Mexican producers to be able to export to key markets such as the European Union, they must meet strict requirements such as certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). To be certified by RSPO, the HCV Approach must be applied prior to the establishment of any new oil palm plantations. With this cooperation agreement, the HCV Network will support FEMEXPALMA’s members and allies to design better strategies to identify, manage and monitor High Conservation Values and support smallholders to achieve RSPO certification and implement good agricultural practices.

Get Involved
The Network is always looking for partners who are interested in supporting our work, for talented professionals who can join the growing Secretariat team, and for professionals who can lead assessments globally.
Get Involved