Roberto Klabin

Roberto Klabin has been a passionate servant of environmental conservation since his college days in Brazil in the 1970s, at a time when knowledge and awareness of sustainable practices were still in their infancy. Together with like-minded collaborators, he has set up a number of environmental NGOs, later serving as president of Brazil’s pioneering SOS Atlantic Forest. His involvement in the Pantanal region stretches back over 30 years, where he combines ecotourism, cattle ranching and habitat preservation, and continues to lead the movement in Brazil in the recent, politically difficult, times – communicating the importance of his work to politicians, business people, and society at large.

FUELLING THE FUTURE: How Conservation and Tourism Drive Each Other

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we are witnessing the greatest extinction crisis since dinosaurs disappeared from our planet 65 million years ago. For iconic species like jaguar, stingray and rhino, the threat is now so great that their fate sometimes lies in the hands of a few private landowners and tourism businesses. This talk will introduce the audience to pioneering individuals leading the conservation charge, from Raja Ampat’s pristine coral reefs to the world’s largest wetlands in Brazil’s Pantanal. Looking at successful examples from Africa, Brazil and Indonesia, you’ll learn how to use wildlife tourism to protect vital ecosystems while proving the economic value of conservation.