Yann Laurans, an economist committed to biodiversity protection and Head of the Land Biodiversity Team at WWF-France, became President of the Tour du Valat Science and Conservation Council on December 6, 2022, after having been a member for four years. He replaced Patrick Duncan, Emeritus Research Director at the French National Research Centre (CNRS).
The Science and Conservation Council, made up of internationally renowned experts in all the Tour du Valat’s fields of work, evaluates and validates the Institute’s research and conservation programme. It provides guidance and support to the Tour du Valat Advisory Board.
During his 2019-2022 term, Patrick Duncan very effectively led and revitalised the Council, particularly encouraging the Tour du Valat to strengthen its actions that favour biodiversity. For Patrick Duncan, work that promotes biodiversity goes hand in hand with the fight against climate change.
Today, Yann Laurans wishes to continue Patrick’s work and focus in particular on strengthening the Tour du Valat as a source of inspiration and a reference for the transitions in which the Mediterranean Basin is engaged. Under his leadership, the Science and Conservation Council will seek to accompany the Tour du Valat along its own path toward scientific excellence and in influencing decision-making at all levels.
“Deeply rooted in a territory emblematic of the ecological transition in progress in the Mediterranean Basin, the Tour du Valat aims to become a driving force in the ecological transitions taking place in this region. Its Science and Conservation Council will be pleased to accompany it in this endeavour and to help it reflect on the ways in which it intends to influence environmental policies at different levels.”
Yann Laurans holds a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has used his expertise in international environmental governance for the IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations), in consultancy firms for public and private stakeholders (AScA, Espelia, and Ecowhat), and in administrative organisations (the Seine-Normandy Water Agency). At the IDDRI, Yann Laurans developed activities in the field of biodiversity economics before heading the Biodiversity and Ecosystems programme.
A member of the Humanity and Biodiversity task force of the IUCN French Committee’s “environmental law and policy” commission, Yann Laurans teaches a course on practices and principles of economic instruments for nature policies at Sciences Po, Paris.
His central research theme is the role of economics in the development and implementation of environmental policies, which he has applied to water, wetlands, and coastal policies.
Scientific and Conservation Council list
- Dr. Yann Laurans – Director, Terrestrial Biodiversity, WWF France; President
- Prof. Debbie Pain – Honorary Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia; Honorary Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, UK; Vice-President
- Prof. Wolfgang Cramer – Professor, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE), France
- Dr. Ruth Cromie – Chair of Technical Committee for UNEP-Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), UK
- Dr. Nick Davidson – Nick Davidson Environmental, United-Kingdom & Institute for Land, Water & Society,Charles Sturt University, Australia
- Prof. Elena Kazakou – Professor, Montpellier SupAgro, France
- Prof. Phoebe Koundouri – Athens University of Economics and Business; President-elect European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists; Director EIT Climate KIC Greece; Co-Chair United Nations SDSN Greece
- Dr. Ana Rodrigues – Senior Researcher, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE-CNRS), Montpellier, France
- André Hoffmann – President of Tour du Valat Foundation, Switzerland; permanent guest
