Full Name
Dr Holly Dublin
Job Title
Senior Adviser
Organisation
IUCN ESARO and IIED
Speaker Bio
For more than three decades, Dr Holly Dublin has worked as an active conservation practitioner in the fields of conservation and development - linking the inherent values of biodiversity and ecosystem services to human livelihoods and well-being. Her career has focused on the delivery of outcomes and impacts for the conservation of biodiversity and the livelihoods of local communities around the world.

Holly is currently a Senior Associate at the International Institute for Environment and Development and a Senior Advisor to IUCN’s Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa and Wildlife Works. She is also on the Steering Committee of IUCN’s Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group, having worked for WWF’s Africa & Madagascar Programme for 22 years and served as the Chair of the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group for 26 years and on the Governing Council of IUCN as the elected Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. Throughout this time Holly has been an active player in local, national and international policy forums, including the CBD, CITES, UNEA, UNFCCC and the SDGs.

After establishing herself in the conservation community, she chose to pursue an unconventional career trajectory in pursuit of greater conservation impact. Through exploring and working in the business and finance sectors, Holly has built extensive domain expertise in corporate sustainability, innovative financing approaches for conservation impact, equitable benefit sharing and understanding diverse theories of change from the perspective of governmental, private and non-government sectors. She has a deep empathy for the differences within and between sectors, especially those of language, culture and performance metrics (financial, social, environmental) and now draws on her personal knowledge and professional networks to enhance synergies and build unconventional partnerships.

An accomplished speaker and writer, Holly has a proven track record of deeply understanding the issues, thinking strategically and putting lessons from diverse realms into operational practice. She has put all these skills to good use for The Biodiversity of Conservation Conference 2023 as a strategic adviser to the ALU team.
Holly Dublin