Mr Ervasti graduated with an MSc in Forestry from the University of Helsinki in 1979. He has over 30 years of experience in market and business opportunity studies as well as raw material availability studies in the forest industry (recovered paper, pulp and paper) and related fields worldwide. He has work experience from Finncell (The Finnish Woodpulp Association), Ekono Oy and Pöyry.
Dr Sepul Kanti Barua has 15 years of professional experience in consulting, international development and research in climate change, environment, including forests and other natural resources, energy, agriculture and agro-commodities, trade and process industries. He holds Doctor of Science degree in Forest and Climate Change Economics from the University of Helsinki 2012 and was visiting doctoral scholar of environmental economics at Yale University, USA, in 2011. He has worked across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. His work covers sustainability, climate change solutions such as carbon capture in forests, renewable energy, REDD+ for private companies and investors investment planning, green economy, and economic modelling, especially in the forest and environment sectors. He has an in-depth understanding of the broader global sustainability, climate and development agenda. Dr Barua has authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, scientific monographs and technical/scientific reports, working papers, and numerous project reports.
He is fluent in English, Bengali, Chittagonian and has fair proficiency in Finnish.
Dongliang Shi holds a master’s degree in Environment and Sustainability from Monash University (2012) and a bachelor’s degree in Environment Science from the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (2010). Dongliang previously worked as the Director of Consulting Department in a U.S. environmental consulting film in China and provided environmental and sustainability consultancy services for multi-national groups in China and Southeast Asia. Dongliang is now leading Indufor China team. He has solid experience in China’s wood product supply chains and is responsible for marketing analysis, sourcing, and supply chain planning studies in China. He has built strong connections with Chinese wood processing & product manufacturers and traders, as well as related associations at both local and national levels. Also, he is involved in due diligence and environmental and social impact assessment services for European Investment Bank’s forestry operations in China. Dongliang is based in Shanghai. He has native skills in Mandarin and fluency in English.
Abdullah Madawi has a background in applied mathematics and geophysics completing his MSc in 2019. He works in the Resource Monitoring team at Indufor, utilising his proficiency in programming and analysing large datasets within local and cloud-based environments. Abdullah's MSc research investigated the temporal and spatial variability of Antarctic Bottom Water pathways using a Lagrangian particle tracking tool.
Bill Liley, Managing Director of Indufor Asia Pacific, holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) degree from Canterbury University, New Zealand (1976).
Bill Liley’s expertise includes the assessment of forest quantity and condition and the projection of its wood supply capability and cash flows. These provide the primary elements of forest value estimation, which extends to include treatments of land cost, risk and cost of capital. He has undertaken projects in forest estate modeling and valuation in Oceania, Africa, South and Central America and China. He remains involved in the development of standards for forest valuation and is the Head of Forest Valuation for Indufor.
Andrew Morton, Managing Director of Indufor Asia Pacific (Australia), holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) degree from the Australian National University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia.
Andrew has over 25 years’ experience in forest and plantation activities in temperate and tropical environments and provides specialist advice in management structuring for forest and plantation managers, investors and owners, and in developing sustainable forest management systems.
Andrew has wide experience in policy and commercial assessment in the forests and wood products sector, advising governments, industrialists, investors and financiers. This includes expert roles in relation to legal proceedings in a range of jurisdictions and acting as arbitrator to forest sector disputes.
Anna Luz is a Consultant at Indufor North America. Her work centers on strengthening companies’ and investors’ sustainability in their operations, supply chains and investments.
Anna previously worked in forest product certifications and traceability. She has conducted verification audits on certification requirements, supply chain traceability, risk assessments and due diligence systems. Anna has worked with forest product companies at all along the supply chain, from primary producers to manufacturers of finished goods, in North America and internationally.
Anna holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography and Biology from McGill University. She speaks English and French.
Mr Gaudel has a master’s degree in Forestry (MSc For, 2019) from the University of Helsinki, and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering (2014). He is an expert in forest resource management, remote sensing and GIS. He has previously worked in the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Mikkeli, Finland, as a junior researcher in the promotion of sustainable wood supply through digitalisation and biomass supply potential evaluation. He has worked as forest inventory officer at Silvere and completed internship at Finnish Forest Research Institute, Finland. He is fluent in English, Nepali, Hindi and has good Finnish language skills.
Damien O’Reilly holds a Bachelor of Forest Science degree from the University of Melbourne, and over 25 years of forest management experience, primarily in log sales and developing and managing supply chains, managing large-scale timber production operations and ensuring compliance with Forest Practices Codes and environmental management accreditation requirements.
He has worked extensively with forest agencies, growers and the timber processing industry across Australia. Most recently, Damien has consulted to the government and industry in relation to improving efficiency and developing decision support frameworks that compare operating models balancing cost, safety, sustainability and the equitable treatment of stakeholders.
Damien’s background in forest operations has provided a strong capacity to balance strategic imperatives with practical outcomes.
Matt Bovelander, Senior Consultant Bio Solutions, holds an MSc (first class honours) from the University of Auckland and a Graduate Diploma in Business (Management) from Massey University.
Matt Bovelander has worked for many years in forest industry consulting bringing a wealth of experience-based solutions to a broad range of client challenges from Asia to West Africa and the Americas. Typical assignments include market research, feedstock assessment, technology evaluation, due diligence and project feasibility assessment for a wide range of clients covering forest industry investors, lenders, project developers and trading houses.
Specifically, Mr Bovelander’s Bio Solutions focus has concentrated primarily on biomass (e.g. wood chips, wood pellets and EFB pellets) for energy generation as well as agricultural feedstocks for biofuels (e.g. oil palm and jatropha for biodiesel and sugar cane for bioethanol). More recently Mr Bovelander has been involved in biomass assessments in support of bio-based economies, biomass price forecasting for utilities and evaluating the viability of short-rotation woody crops for biomass production in South East Asia.
Sam is an Analyst at Indufor North America. His current work centers on tropical forest protection and governance, including supporting analyses and evaluations of donor funding for conservation programming. Prior to joining Indufor, he worked as an economic consultant for Analysis Group, where he conducted financial and economic analyses for public and private sector clients. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in statistics and economics from Northwestern University.
Ms Rivas Palma, Senior Consultant, Forestry and Climate Change, holds a PhD in Forest Environmental and Social Valuation (2008) and a Master’s degree in Forestry Science (MForSc distinction) (2000) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand). Rosa’s expertise is in the provision of technical and policy advice on climate change issues as related to Land-Use Change and the Forestry sector. This includes greenhouse gas inventories and projections. Rosa is a qualified UNFCCC inventory expert reviewer. She has professional working experience in Asia, New Zealand, Africa and South America. Rosa is fluent in Spanish and English.
Priscilla Santos is a climate change expert with over 15 years supporting the development and evaluation of climate policies and finance mechanisms to enhance forest governance and collaborative climate action. She has advised governments, donors, international organizations, development cooperation agencies, impact investors and NGOs on decision-making processes and advocacy strategies to increase climate ambition at multiple levels. Priscilla is experienced in assessing climate and forest funds, payment for environmental services and REDD+ legal frameworks, and social and environmental safeguards to secure the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. As a consultant, she has collaborated with partners such as The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Principles for Responsible Investment, German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), Ford Foundation and WWF International, focusing on the improvement of climate policy and finance and their connections with forests and land use, gender equality and human rights, particularly in Brazil and Latin America.
Previously, she served as Senior Advisor on Adaptation to Climate Change in Brazil's Presidency Secretariat of Strategic Affairs, and on Climate Change and Forests in the Norwegian Embassy in Brasilia. Priscilla holds a Master of Science in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford, and is a lawyer specialized in Environmental and Urban Law. She was born and raised in the Brazilian Amazon and speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian.
Nav Singh, Financial Controller, holds a Bachelor of Business degree and is an Associate Chartered Accountant. She also is qualified with a Chartered Secretaryship.
Nav Singh’s areas of expertise include compilation, evaluation, analysis and reporting of financial status. She is responsible for all the accounting, budgeting, cash flow management and management reporting duties. She has expertise in all these areas along with in-depth knowledge of local legislative requirements, policies and procedures.
Chaplin Chan strengthens the team with his expertise in land cover change detection, working with remote sensing products. With a strong IT background, he is responsible for the development of customised processing routines within a GIS and remote sensing environment using cloud-computing (and local) platforms. He has extensive experience mapping temporal changes across forested landscapes. Chaplin has played a pivotal role in managing the capture and integration of various (airborne and space-borne) datasets to improve resource management decisions. He has extensive project experience throughout Oceania, Asia, and North and South America. Chaplin gained his BSc double major in Geography and Computer Science (2010) and a BSc (Hons) in Geography, specialising in GIS and remote sensing (2011) from Auckland University, New Zealand. He is fluent in English and Cantonese.
Mr Kataja holds a master’s degree in forest economics (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki and a bachelor’s degree in forest engineering from the Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Tuukka has a solid background in Finnish forestry, spanning from forest management to wood procurement and from data analysis and business development to top management responsibilities. He is specialized in wood procurement and sales. He has several years’ experience from Stora Enso Wood Supply and has most recently worked as CEO for Northern Finland's Forest Market (Pohjois-Suomen Metsämarkkinat), where he oversaw deliveries of over 700 000 m3 of wood per year.
David Nicoll, Senior Consultant Forest Resources, holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science from the Australian National University (1996).
David has more than 20 years’ experience in forestry management, initially with Australia's pine plantation estates and then Indonesia's fast-growing hardwood estates. David's tropical forestry expertise covers planning and management of planted forest systems, from community to industrial scales, and a range of crops including fast-growing hardwoods, teak, sago palm, and agroforestry systems. David has broad experiences working with large corporates, consulting firms, and donor agency projects in these climes, over a period of 15 years. A significant component of David's experience is with business feasibility (quantitative resource assessment, operational feasibility and financial viability) for start-up forestry projects, often in remote locations, and then leading teams through the challenging business start-up phases. These experiences also encompassed community and government engagement processes, regulatory compliance, and policy interpretation.
David has international experience across Australia, New Zealand, SE Asia, China plus some limited project work in Mozambique. David is now based in New Zealand but retains a strong interest to resolve the decline of peatland forests in Indonesia, and cares deeply about the associated impacts on the surrounding communities and peatland biota.
Ms Paro is an experienced administrator with strong organizational and information management skills. She is responsible for office management, human resources and invoicing as well as in charge of the back office. She is a graduate of the Scandinavian Secretarial College of Stockholm University (1982). She is fluent in Finnish, English and Swedish, and competent in French and Russian.
Hanna Nikinmaa, Senior Advisor, is specialised in the promotion of sustainable forest and natural resources management with international organisations and private companies. She holds a master’s degree in forest ecology (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki (1989) and a postgraduate diploma in educational technology from the Kuru Institute of Forestry (1992).
Her expertise includes certification systems for natural resource management, environmental and social appraisals and international rules for the legal trade of wood products. Her professional work experience covers several European, Asian, African and Latin American countries.
Her language skills cover Finnish, English, Swedish, Spanish and French.
Tuomo Visanko holds a degree in Engineering, Wood Technology from University of Applied Sciences, and eMBA from University of Lappeenranta. He has over 27 years of experience in forest industry and wood procurement. He has worked in UPM-Kymmene Oyj in several positions as a Senior Vice President leading international Sawn Timber and Living Business Area, Global Wood Sourcing and Forestry Business Areas. He also has experience in developing the energy biomass sourcing and sales in Europe. His geographic experience covers in particular Europe, Asia, North-Africa and Russia.
He is fluent in Finnish and English.
Mr Niku holds a master’s degree (MSc) in Business Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics. He has over 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industries worldwide. This experience includes participation in the preparation of sectoral master plans, corporate strategy, feasibility and DD studies, mill improvement studies, new product development projects, fibre raw material sourcing, market research as well as actual export selling of the products.
Mr Niku has been Team Leader and Project Manager in over 300 feasibility, market and strategic studies. The recent focus has been in the MENA region, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Indian sub-continent, China, Southeast Asia and Africa. In addition to forest industry companies, he has done much work for EBRD, IFC, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and private financing organizations.
He is fluent in Finnish, English, German and Swedish.
Leo Eerola, Senior Consultant - Financial Management, holds a master’s degree in business economics in forestry, MSc (For), from the University of Helsinki (1987).
Leo Eerola has long experience in building financial management systems for short and long-term development and capacity-building projects; accounting procedures and guidelines, accounting software, financial control and MIS systems, donor reporting, auditing, and on-the-job training for local staff. He has country experience from several East African and South-East Asian countries and from Russia. The most significant clients have been the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, various EC Delegations, Nordic Development Fund and external auditors.
He is fluent in Finnish and English.
Mr Gnoth holds an MSc Degree in International Technological Development Sciences (ITDS), Social Sciences & Industrial Management at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands and a BSc in Automotive Engineering Technology.
He has twenty years of experience in sustainability, international business development and consultancy in renewable energy and biomass and in the start-up of SME enterprises in emerging countries. He is a seasoned expert in biomass to energy and in biomass (wood and agri-residues), pelletization as well as in environmental and social responsibility within the energy sector. He is also experienced in stakeholder management and has held board positions in various joint ventures and foundations. Language fluency in Dutch and English with communication ability in French and German.
Mr Terävä has MSc in Forestry from the University of Helsinki (1990). He has almost 30 years of experience in the forest industry, especially in the fields of raw material sourcing for the forest industry, international trade of roundwood and forest industry products and logistics.
He has been working for 24 years in the international wood market, supplying roundwood, sawn material, wood chips and pellets from Russia to Scandinavia, Western Europe, Asia and Africa.
His native language is Finnish. He is fluent in Russian and English and competent in Swedish.
Bill Lu, Senior Consultant and General Manager, China Operations, is certified as a Senior Advisor in International Business, Beijing (2000). He additionally holds a Master of Arts of English Literature and Tourism Management, Nankai University, China (1988).
His expertise includes timberland investment and management advisory services, strategic planning and execution for both Western investors in China and Chinese investors overseas; project management of large forest inventory and appraisal projects in China; best forest management practices; fibre supply analysis, forest product and market analysis, forest management information system (FMIS), forest inventory, and forest resource due diligence and assessment. . He oversees new business and market development in China, including Hong Kong. He has a good knowledge of China's forest industry, its policies, investment environment, and practices. He is also involved in development of procedures for assessment and valuation of Chinese forest resources. He has worked in Oceania, North America, South America and Southeast Asia. He is fluent in Mandarin and English.
Mr Lu is a registered forestry consultant of New Zealand Forestry Institute.
Alexandre Corriveau Bourque is a natural resource and land rights specialist. His work focuses on finding opportunities to secure and strengthen the tenure rights of Indigenous peoples and other local communities. He also specializes in working with different stakeholders to collaboratively design projects that "do no harm” to local rights and livelihoods, integrating aspects of collaborative dispute resolution into program design to ensure transparency, mutual accountability, and just, equitable outcomes.
He holds a Master’s (MA) in Geography and a Bachelor’s (BA) in Anthropology and International Development from McGill University in Montréal, Canada.
Blair Freeman, Head of Strategy and Sustainability with Indufor Asia Pacific (Australia), holds a Bachelor of Forest Science degree from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
Blair has over 20 years of experience in providing advisory services on forest policy, strategic planning, natural resource management and sustainable development, across Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
As project director and project manager, Blair has led a range of complex multi-disciplinary projects, including strategic reviews and program reviews relating to forest industry development, conservation and natural resources management. These projects have encompassed extensive stakeholder consultation and the provision of consulting advice to public and private sector clients, at executive and senior government levels.
Ms Papunen has a Master’s degree in Forest Sciences (MSc For, 2022) from the University of Helsinki. She is specialized in forest resource management, remote sensing, and GIS. Her tasks have included land cover analyses, resource mapping, and modelling. She is fluent in Finnish and English, and competent in French and Swedish.
Mr Sokolov has MSc (Financial Accounting) from the Syktyvkar State University (2003) and a double MSc degree (2007) from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Business Administration) and the University of Eastern Finland (European Forestry). His professional background includes financial analyses and modeling. Previously, he worked at an international forest asset management and investment company in Sweden, where he was involved in preparing financial and valuation models for different business cases, including in the forest industry. Stanislav has also strong experience in the field of forest investment assessment and analyses in the Baltics, as well as the Balkan region. Stanislav is native in Russian, and fluent in English and Swedish.
Mr Arttu Pienimäki holds a master's degree in forestry from the University of Helsinki (2014). He specializes in tropical silviculture, plantation forestry, climate change and forest carbon. He has worked several years in East Africa with topics related to the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems in forestry, design and implementation of forest inventories and other forest sector surveys, forest carbon stock assessments, plantation establishment operations, and the project cycle management. Arttu is an experienced data analyst and a hands-on field expert, with considerable experience in overseeing and participating in field measurement campaigns. His native language is Finnish, and he is fluent in English with competent skills in Swedish and German.
David Paul, Head of Forest Resources Consulting with Indufor Asia Pacific (Australia), holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) degree from Canterbury University in New Zealand.
David is a technical forestry specialist having completed a number of significant resource reviews and feasibility studies for a range of industrial plantation owners. David has extensive valuation and due diligence experience - leading assignments in Australia, New Zealand and the broader Pacific region.
David has also worked in a range of advisory roles involving company restructuring, mergers and acquisitions from a buyer and seller perspective, supply chain assessments, hardwood and softwood market reviews as well as negotiation and analysis of long-term log supply contracts.
André Neumann has a Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) from the University of Canterbury (1983) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business from Massey University.
André’s experience in the forestry and wood products sector spans all aspects of the industry. He has expertise in due diligence teams, domestic and international log markets, sawmill benchmarking, forest resource management and modeling.
He has particular strengths in the sawmilling and panels sectors.
André has worked extensively in both New Zealand and Australia, as well as in Japan, Taiwan, China, the United States, Indonesia, Korea, Brazil, Uruguay, Malaysia (Sabah) and the Solomon Islands.
Jeremy Allen is a Principal Consultant with Indufor Asia Pacific (Australia), based in Melbourne. He holds a double Bachelor degree with a Bachelor in Science (Zoology major) and a Bachelor of Forest Science from the University of Melbourne, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Geographic Information Systems from RMIT. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and Melbourne Business School leadership development programs focusing on improving governance, strategy development, risk management and stakeholder engagement.
In addition, Jeremy has 20 years’ experience in the forest, fire, and emergency management sector in Australia, encompassing senior roles in strategy and policy development, project management and operational delivery. He has worked extensively with the Victorian Public Service, providing strategic advice to manage risk, improving business efficiency through strategy and critical analysis, and leading complex environmental policy and legislative reform programs. Prior to joining Indufor, Jeremy was responsible for leading and planning delivery of a whole-of sector strategic action plan for Victoria’s fire, and emergency management aviation services, working collaboratively with a multi-agency project control board, building effective partnerships and processes to govern delivery of priority actions.
Daphne Yin advises on policy, investment, business, and community-driven solutions to strengthen the resilience of rural landscapes, advance human rights, and ensure sustainable sourcing of forestry and agricultural products in North America, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. She leads Indufor North America's sustainability services, including work on environmental and social due diligence and monitoring, technical assistance, and program evaluation and learning. She has advised on enhancing environmental and social performance and standards along the investment/project cycle of forestry and agricultural programs for public sector, private sector, and nonprofit clients.
Daphne previously worked at Forest Trends where she coauthored industry-leading reports on forest carbon finance and voluntary carbon markets. Her other prior experience includes work on advancing sustainable land use and climate solutions with organizations including Project Drawdown, UNIQUE land use, and Environmental Financial Products. She holds a Master in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Environment and a Bachelor in Political Science from the University of Chicago.
Esa Puustjärvi, holds a master’s degree in forest economics (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki (1985).
Esa Puustjärvi is a specialist in forest and natural resource policies and forest economics with extensive field experience. He has been a team leader in several short and long-term missions involving project preparation, implementation and evaluation. Puustjärvi's specialisation areas include the design and analyses of sectoral policies; institutional reforms; forest law enforcement, governance and trade; and the management and implementation of policy formulation processes. He is presently the Chief Technical Adviser of the Sustainable Forestry Development for Rural Development project in Lao PRD.
He is fluent in Finnish, English, French, Spanish, Swedish and Estonian.
Mr Selänniemi holds a master's degree (MSc) in forestry from the University of Helsinki (1997) and a bachelor's degree (BSc) in forestry from Tammisaari School of Forestry (1981). He has been working in commercial forestry in Finland and in international development cooperation assignments for over 30 years. He has a solid background in institutional development and smallholder/community forestry, especially in Africa. He also has a deep understanding of project cycle management, and has led several project planning missions and managed a number of long-term technical assistance projects in forestry. He is fluent in Swedish, Finnish and English.
Ms Anni Blåsten, Marketing Manager/Senior Consultant, holds a Master’s degree in forest products’ marketing (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki (1990) and Specialist Qualification in Management from the Institute of Marketing (2015).
Anni has 30 years of professional experience in the forest sector, wood products industry, EU forest-related policies, institutional development, as well as tendering and implementation of technical assistance projects. She is responsible for Indufor’s general marketing and the preparation of public sector tenders. She is a communications expert, producing material for Indufor's website, social media and Newsletters. She is fluent in Finnish, English and French.
With a solid forestry background, Kevin Tao has a wealth of experience across a range of disciplines including resource inventory, forest modeling and analysis, harvest planning, transportation networks and resource mapping using GIS and remote sensing. He applies this knowledge to forest valuation and due diligence projects throughout South America, Oceania and Asia. Kevin received his Bachelor of Forestry Engineering degree from Canterbury University, New Zealand (2011). He is fluent in Mandarin and English.
Andrew Holdaway has a background in remote sensing and GIS, with experience in the monitoring of natural features using a range of optical data. With a background in coastal geomorphology, he has an interest in applying emerging geospatial technologies and techniques. Andrew’s recent research has focused on large-scale change detection with Landsat data using Google Earth Engine, gaining an MSc (first class honours) in 2018 from the University of Auckland
Mr Ross holds an MSc Degree (Forest Science) and a BSc Degree (Forest Science) from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He has recently joined the Indufor team in Auckland and comes with 15-years of industry experience. He has a strong background in Forest Planning, GIS and Research in both pine sawtimber and Eucalypt sawtimber and pole plantations in South Africa and East Africa. Prior to joining Indufor, Tim was the Group Head of Planning for an integrated East African forestry company and managed the Planning and Research teams in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
Marcel Vroege, Head of Forest Industry & Bio Solutions, Asia Pacific, holds an Executive MBA from Waikato University, New Zealand (2000) and a degree in Wood Science (B Sc Hons) from Bangor University, North Wales (1992).
Marcel specializes in the analysis of wood and bio-based products industries and markets in the Asia Pacific region. Areas of special interest and expertise include organizational development, business strategies, cost competitiveness assessments, location assessments and reputation assessments of both companies and products. He has been engaged in numerous assignments globally, assisting local industries, as well as international companies. He has managed a wide range of assignments ranging from company restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic market and business assessments to market reviews, business and delivery chain analysis, and feasibility and cost competitiveness studies. He has undertaken assignments throughout the Asia Pacific region, Africa, and North and South America.
Nigel Chandler, Head of Forest Resources Consulting, holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Finance (Massey University, New Zealand) and a Bachelor of Forestry Science degree from Canterbury University, New Zealand (1992).
Nigel Chandler’s expertise includes resource inventory and management, supply chain modeling and forest modeling, with the latter providing input to both tactical and strategic planning processes. Nigel has substantial experience in forest valuation, due diligence and resource assessments. He has been involved in projects in Oceania, Southeast Asia, South America and China, covering assessments and modeling of fast-growing plantation species and natural forests.
Melissa Nicol, Senior Consultant to Indufor Asia Pacific, has a Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) from the University of Canterbury. Melissa has over 10 years of consulting experience in valuations, acquisitions and disposals and project management. She has forestry assessment expertise gained from a New Zealand-based large forestry and wood processing corporate. Her responsibilities included resource analysis and valuation, business strategy, and mergers and acquisition work in both forests and processing facilities. Melissa’s work has also encompassed financial decision support and Information Services relationship management involving contract negotiations with customers and vendors. She has worked extensively in New Zealand and Australia as well as in China.
Mr Ylinen holds a MSc in Forestry from the University of Helsinki and has accumulated a wealth of experience in forestry of about 60 different countries, from the boreal forestry to the tropical high forests of South America, Africa and Asia to the dry miombo woodland forests of Africa. He has maintained and updated his professional skills both with further University studies as well as working in a variety of different capacities from market development and sales of forest machines to heading business intelligence of a major forestry company. Before starting his own company ten years ago he worked with Finnish Jaakko Pöyry Oy and Ekono Oy, with the US multinational Caterpillar Overseas S.A. in Geneva, manufacturer of earthmoving machinery and with Metsäliitto Cooperative.
His native language is Finnish, he is fluent in English and has good Swedish and German language skills.
Mr Mishra holds a master’s degree in Forest Science and Business (MSc For, 2019) and bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Engineering (2015) and Chemistry (2009). He has focused on forest resource management, renewable energy, natural sciences, carbon sequestration and nitrogen mineralization. Previously he has worked with Silvere as Forest Inventory Quality Assurance and projects with UNECE/FAO dealing with forest wood products and marketing, statistical analysis and field measurements. Anup is fluent in English, Nepali and Hindi with intermediate skills in Finnish.
Mr Dima holds a Master’s degree in Forestry (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki and has been active in the forest sectors of South-Eastern Europe for the past 20 years. In 2006, he co-founded a consultancy company in Finland, working with Finnish, Swedish, Austrian, German, Swiss, Dutch and North American companies in the forest sector. He was the Director of an association of international forest investors, held a managerial position in a leading wood harvesting company in Romania, and focused on optimizing the use of forest technology in mountain areas, as well as on lobbying in Bucharest and Brussels for modern practices in private forests. He worked as a Consultant in several international projects targeting the Romanian forest sector. The most recent one was the formulation of the National Strategy for Forests 2030, where Mr Dima coordinated one of the nine working groups in charge with the project, namely the one in targeting the wood balance and wood market of Romania. Pursuing his goals to promote economically feasible and ecologically sound forestry practices, he started working on the Japanese market, where he has been advising local companies on the selection of suitable harvesting technology for Japanese specific conditions, and provided advisory services and technical assistance to local government and private forestry contractors. His native language is Romanian, he is fluent in English and French, has good Spanish, Italian and Finnish language skills.
Karena leads Indufor’s work on community-centered conservation and organizational design, management and implementation with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy. She recently served as the Technical Lead and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist for the Land Trust Alliance’s Common Ground Initiative. Common Ground was a national listening and learning initiative designed to create a dynamic exchange of information with a diverse array of community institutions and sectors about how the land can help communities thrive. In a multi-year undertaking, she has worked with the Alliance to operationalize these insights and recommendations across the organization. She also leads on conservation finance projects focused on improving the capacity of public and non-profit clients to access and deploy funding, and track the impact of investments over time.
Previous to her time at Indufor, she worked at the National Park Foundation as an Executive Fellow to shepherd the organization's strategic plan and co-lead on the development of a collaborative landscape conservation initiative with the National Park Service. Mahung has also had experience working with organizations in the northeast US including the Downeast Lakes Land Trust, Mass Audubon and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Ms. Mahung holds a Master's in Environmental Management from Yale School of Environment. She lives in Washington, DC and is originally from Punta Gorda, Belize.
Con Psiroukis is a Forestry Consultant with Indufor in Australia. Con holds a Bachelor of Forest Science degree from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Con has worked as a Planning Forester involved in the management of plantation inventory programs of various commercial timber species grown throughout Australia. Con also has experience in the analysis of timber product markets and international trade; price analysis and indicators of demand and supply for forest products, and global policy settings and initiatives relating to forest management certification and timber legality.
Jarno Seppälä, Head of Forest Industry and Biosolutions Consulting, holds a master’s degree in forest products’ marketing (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki (2001). Mr. Seppälä completed his thesis at Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA, in 2000.
Jarno Seppälä has extensive international knowledge of the primary and secondary wood products as well as bioenergy industries in Europe, Russia and North America. He has been actively involved in and/or managed complete business plans and other strategy formulations, sector studies, raw material, supply chain and market analysis including detailed end-use segmentation and client identification. His responsibilities also include feasibility studies, investment analysis and evaluations as well as due diligence and M&A assessments. Mr. Seppälä has experience in both the private and public sectors – from small local operators to large multinational companies and organisations.
Mr Seppälä is fluent in Finnish and English.
With 20 years’ management experience, Pete Watt leads the resource monitoring team, with overall responsibility for business strategy, growth and development. His expertise includes operational use of remotely sensed data for resource management, with a focus on monitoring land use cover and productivity at local and national scales. He is proficient in the use of GIS and remote sensing as applied to resource management and has been involved in significant projects throughout Oceania, Asia and South America. Pete is constantly monitoring technological advances in satellite imagery and data capture to ensure Indufor continues to lead the way in resource monitoring. He received his PhD and MSc (Distinction) in forest monitoring from Durham University, England (2005), and his BForSc from Canterbury University, New Zealand (1993).
Mr Ankrah holds a Masters in Business Administration from Aston Business School, UK; having specialised in strategic business planning, marketing and strategy and has 30 years of international timber and forestry experience gained in a cross-cultural working environment in the UK, Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, Bolivia, Sierra Leone and Ghana. He also holds a BSc in Wood Products Technology from Brunel Chiltern University, High Wycombe, UK, and is an Associate level member of the Institute of Wood Science, UK. He has undergone training and certification in Project Feasibility and Investment Analysis by UNIDO, Vienna.
Previously, Mr Ankrah worked with the Timbmet Group and Saint Gobain Building Distribution; all in the UK. He has good knowledge and experience in the development of forest plantations in Ghana and other parts of the world; and is well-grounded in the economic, technical, strategic, environmental and social aspects of the Ghana timber industry. He has undertaken environmental impact assessments, due diligence and investment feasibility studies on behalf of plantation investors and international development finance institutions. He is fluent in English and 3 Ghanaian languages (Twi, Fanti and Ga) and has good Spanish speaking skills.
Proficient in the field of GIS and environmental management, Chen Yang specialises in deriving and interpreting information from spatial data and satellite imagery. His expertise lies in data integration, land use mapping, land cover mapping, LiDAR data analysis to validate and update plantation information systems - a key forest valuation and due diligence input. Chen has experience in Oceania, Asia and South America and has been involved in valuations and FMIS development projects in China. He was awarded his Bachelor of Forestry Science from the University of Canterbury (2008), New Zealand and a Postgraduate Diploma of Environmental Science (2013) from Auckland University, New Zealand. He is fluent in Mandarin and English.
Dr Senko holds a PhD in Agriculture and Forestry (2021) with Forest Science as the major subject and a master’s degree in European Forestry (2014) from the University of Eastern Finland. His background spans more than ten years of experience promoting sustainable and intensive forest management initiatives in Finland and Russia while building relationships with various stakeholders through his consulting and research work. Sergei has completed his PhD dissertation on the topic “Nordic forest solutions as an opportunity to reform the forestry sector in Russia”. At Indufor, Sergei is in charge of forestry and wood supply consulting. His key expertise includes wood sourcing, timber markets, and forest resource assessment and management issues. Sergei has also a sound knowledge of wood product industries, climate solutions, renewable energy and other biomaterials. Sergei has been involved in several clients and research projects in Russia, Europe and Asia, acting also as a project manager. His native language is Russian, and he is fluent in English
Edylyn Anaen is the Finance and Administrative Assistant for Indufor North America. She provides administrative and financial support, supporting project management and ongoing efforts to maintain and improve systems and processes. Prior to joining Indufor, Edylyn worked in the fields of building construction and IT, with extensive experience in project management and human resource management.
Mr Eerikäinen holds an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology; he has long experience on private sector environmental evaluations working as Senior Environmental Evaluation Manager at the EBRD and thereafter as Senior Environmental Specialist at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank. The evaluations for IFC, MIGA and EBRD included environment-related thematic studies and project evaluations in more than forty countries, comprising forest industries, process and manufacturing, oil, gas and mining, power & energy and infrastructure, agribusiness, telecommunication, health and education, and financial industries. His career started in plant and production management and continued at Sweco Industry Oy before joining the EBRD. After retiring from IEG in 2013, Mr. Eerikäinen has continued his career as an independent consultant at his own company SustEval-Consulting.
His native language is Finnish, he is fluent in English and has good Swedish and German language skills.
Janne Löytömäki, Senior Consultant - Wood Products, holds a master’s degree in wood technology (M.S. Tech.) from the Helsinki University of Technology (1992).
Mr Löytömäki is specialized in wood technology, sawmilling and wood-based panels industry, operational, financial and economic analyses, and valuations. His tasks in investment and other industrial studies have included process planning, financial analyses, operational and technological assessments, implementation planning; development of cost accounting, monitoring and reporting systems; carrying out forest asset appraisals, and participating in due diligence teams.
Löytömäki is fluent in Finnish and English.
Michael is a Consultant at Indufor North America. His work centers on forest and natural resource governance and the use of data to develop custom-built tools to improve decision-making. Recently he supported Rainforest Foundation Norway in building a model of financial flows to tropical forest protection. He has previously worked with NASA, the World Food Programme, and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society on climate, disaster, and food security linkages. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s in International Relations from American University. He speaks English and Spanish.
Mr Rantanen holds a master’s degree in forest economics (MSc For) from the University of Helsinki (1999). He has extensive experience in the international wood industry and trade with a strong background in forestry and wood procurement operations. He has worked in demanding sales roles in the timber industry, including softwood lumber, further processed wood and plywood products, and thermally modified wood products, throughout his career of over 15 years. He has extensive international knowledge of primary and secondary wood products in global wood products markets. During his consulting career, he has worked in various international feasibility and market studies and analyses, as well as business development projects related to the wood products industry.
Jeffrey Hatcher is the Managing Director of Indufor North America, which provides sustainability and investment consulting services to public and private clients. He previously served as Director of Global Programs for the Rights and Resources Group where he led analytical projects on forest tenure policies, climate change, and investment risks. He began his career at the FAO Emergency and Land Tenure services in Sudan supporting the implementation of the land policy provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and land restitution for internally displaced people. He holds an MBA with a focus on finance from INSEAD, an MA in Development Studies from the University of Pavia, and a BA in International Relations from the College of William and Mary.