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Plan Vivo

The Plan Vivo Foundation

The Plan Vivo Foundation is a registered Scottish charity, set up to develop and oversee the Plan Vivo Standard and System and lobby for Plan Vivo principles.

The Foundation’s charitable aims are:

  • Relieving poverty in developing countries through engaging rural communities in sustainable land-use projects;
  • Promoting environmental protection and improvement through biodiversity conservation and the restoration, protection and management of terrestrial ecosystems;
  • Building local capacity through the transfer of knowledge, skills and resources to developing countries;

The Plan Vivo Foundation has the competence and responsibility to do the following:

  • Take all decisions on the registration and status of projects;
  • Annually review projects and coordinate third-party validation and approve verifiers;
  • Approve technical specifications and coordinate reviews by experts;
  • Issue Plan Vivo Certificates in respect of ecosystem services generated and record all issuances in a registry;
  • Review, update and develop the Plan Vivo Standard in consultation with stakeholders;
  • Maintain and disseminate clear and up-to-date information about the Plan Vivo System, Standards and projects;
  • Lobby for pro-poor, participatory approaches to forest management and land-use.

Board of Trustees

All amendments to the Standards must be approved by the Plan Vivo Foundation Board of Trustees. The Trustee’s expertise includes forest ecology and conservation, environmental management, international development, business administration, finance, climate change and environmental sustainability, bio-energy and project management. The Board of Trustees meets a minimum of four times per year.

Andy Inglis

Andy has been involved in international forestry and environmental issues for over 25 years, starting off as community forestry technician in Sierra Leone in 1985.  From 2006-2010 he was DFID’s Forestry Adviser covering Africa.  Prior to that he was coordinator of  IUCN’s country programme in Laos.  He was also a UN official, in the FAO Forestry Department in Rome from 1991-93 and 2003-05. He also worked (1993 -2003) and currently works (from 2011), as an independent trainer and adviser for international institutions, national and local governments and national and local NGOs. Andy joined the board in September 2012.

Jessica Orrego

Jessica joined the board in 2010. She is Vice-President  of the Environmental Markets division of Equator LLC, and has ten years’ experience with forest carbon project development. Jessica has a history of involvement with Plan Vivo, having worked for Energy for Sustainable Development in Edinburgh, she was involved in the development of Plan Vivo projects in Mexico, Uganda and Mozambique.  Prior to joining Equator, Jessica was Head of US Project Implementation at EcoSecurities, and  is a member of the ANSI Forest Carbon Standards Committee. Jessica holds a B.S. in Biology and a Master’s degree in Forestry from the University of Vermont.

Ray Victurine

Ray leads the Wildlife Conservation Society’s conservation finance team, with a focus on creating market opportunities that contribute to conservation and sustainable development. Trained in natural resource economics, Ray has 20 years experience working in conservation and rural development, and has lived in Latin America and Africa.

Pauline Nantongo

Pauline is the Executive Director of ECOTRUST, the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda. Joining the Directors in 2007, Pauline has 12 years of experience in natural resource management and works with communities across Uganda in participaroty land-use initiatives. Pauline was previously director of NatureUganda.

Jeremy Woods (chair)

Jeremy is a lecturer in bioenergy at Imperial College London, working on the interplay between development, land-use and the sustainable use of natural resources. He is a member of the Royal Society’s Working Group on Biofuels and recent work has included participation in developing the framework for an international bioenergy programme in collaboration with the UN-FAO and the International Energy Agency. He is also a Trustee of the Environmental Law Foundation.

Juan Andres Santelices

Juan Andres  is a Forest Engineer and for over 14 years has been working in the field of ethical trade, sustainable livelihoods and sustainable business development. He is currently working as an independent consultant with producer organisations in Latin America, and has previously worked with indigenous communities, producer organisations and  forestry enterprises in over 15 countries, in Asia, Oceania, South and Central America.

Ina Porras

Ina Porras joined the Plan Vivo board in January 2012 and brings a wealth of experience in markets for environmental services to tackle rural poverty and also a specialisation in watershed management activities. She currently works as a researcher, in the Sustainable Markets Group at IIED in Edinburgh. Her previous research roles include roles at the University of Massachusetts and the Tropical Science Center in Costa Rica.

Technical Advisory Group

The Plan Vivo Technical Advisory Group (TAG) provides independent advice to the Foundation on scientific and technical aspects of the Standard and projects. The Group is composed of experts in community-based natural resource management, carbon and other ecosystem services quantification and monitoring, and the development of rural livelihood programmes.

The Group includes a core Technical Advisory Committee, who work more closely with the Foundation to support the approval of technical specifications. Specific functions of the Technical Advisory Group and Committee are to:

  • Peer review technical documents from existing and potential Plan Vivo projects
  • Provide recommendations on technical aspects in the Plan Vivo Standard and how they should be applied
  • Contribute to the development of tools and methodologies to support Plan Vivo projects

To download a list of current Technical Advisory Group Members click here (pdf).