Djibouti · IGAD region

Biodiversity management in the Horn of Africa.

Regional cooperation for biodiversity across shared land and seascapes.

January 2014 – September 2015

Technical Assistance Team Leader
NIRAS Finland

Danilo Barbero standing beside the EU–IGAD Biodiversity Management Programme banner — Danilo Barbero beside the Biodiversity Management Programme banner.

Base and regional scope: Djibouti
Horn of Africa · IGAD region
Regional partner: Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Funding: European Union
10th European Development Fund

01 / The assignment

Supporting regional conservation.

Based in Djibouti, I led the technical assistance team supporting IGAD’s Biodiversity Management Programme in the Horn of Africa. The programme focused on the management of biodiversity across shared land and seascapes, linking regional environmental cooperation with implementation by partner organisations.

My work combined programme coordination, supervision of grants and advice on regional environmental policy, with particular attention to biodiversity conservation, climate change and drought resilience.

Key responsibilities

Programme coordination and supervision. Coordinated and supervised programme implementation, supporting IGAD in overseeing grants awarded to implementing partners working on transboundary biodiversity management.
Regional environmental policy. Assisted IGAD on environmental policy issues, including climate change and drought resilience, and supported work on biodiversity databases and information systems.
Identification and programming. Supported the identification and planning of biodiversity interventions across the Horn of Africa, including strategies and approaches for a follow-up programme under the 11th European Development Fund.

Working across borders

The assignment required connecting regional priorities with activities in ecosystems that extend across national boundaries. My role was to help translate those priorities into coordinated implementation and future interventions, bringing together technical assistance, policy support and programme oversight.

02 / People and places

Meetings and field visits.

Photographs from programme events and visits across the region, including Gambella in Ethiopia.

Danilo Barbero standing beneath a Biodiversity Management Programme event banner at ICRAF, Nairobi — Programme event at ICRAF, Nairobi · 16–17 July 2014. The banner highlights coastal and terrestrial ecosystems in Kenya and Somalia.

A group talking beside thatched buildings during a field visit in Gambella — Discussion during a field visit in Gambella, Ethiopia.

Danilo Barbero beside a helicopter in the grasslands of Gambella — Field visit in Gambella, Ethiopia.

Danilo Barbero beside a round shelter in a rural settlement — Field visit in Lac Abbe' landscape - Djibouti/Ethiopia.

03 / Landscapes and wildlife

Biodiversity in Gambella.

Aerial view of a buffalo herd moving through grassland beside a wet area in Gambella — Buffalo moving through the Gambella landscape.

Aerial view of antelope spread across the open grasslands of Gambella — Antelope across the open grasslands of Gambella.

A closer aerial view of buffalo moving through dust in Gambella — A closer view of a buffalo herd in Gambella.

04 / Expertise

Experience in practice.

Biodiversity conservation
Regional cooperation
Transboundary ecosystems
Climate change and drought resilience
Grant supervision
Programme planning

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