Gonzalo is an ecologist recognized as a global leader in the promotion of sustainability, with an emphasis on innovative free market solutions to environmental issues. As executive director of Earthna, he guides the center’s mandate of enhancing Qatar’s role within the global sustainability policy ecosystem.
His previous positions included Managing Director for External Affairs at Pluspetrol, Latin America’s largest private oil and gas company; Chairman of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel in Washington D.C.; Managing Director of Sustainable Forestry Management for the Americas; Head of Biodiversity at the Global Environmental Facility; Principal Environmental Specialist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Latin American and Caribbean Program.
Gonzalo founded Ecosystem Services LLC, a company that generates carbon offsets through avoiding deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. He has acted as a consultant for multilateral and bilateral agencies, governments, and NGOs. He has been a member of the Supervisory Council of Wetlands International, where he was appointed Counselor of Honor in 2021. He was recognized by the United States Forest Service with the Outstanding Achievement in Conservation Award in 2017. In 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the period 2022 – 2024. He has published over 250 articles in scientific journals, magazines, and books, as well as authoring two books himself.
Dr. Castro de la Mata received a Ph.D. in Ecology and Population Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Master of Science in Biophysics and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru.