Poda Damas is a forest engineer. He worked for twenty years in the forestry administration of Burkina Faso where he had different responsibilities and participated to the implementation of various programs including the program to combat desertification, the project "bois de village", the management of Burkina Faso's National Forest Seed Center, the promotion of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). He is national trainer of the approach "Analysis and Development of Market” of NTFPs. Mr. Poda Damas has been recruited to the FAO country office for 6 years as a forest/NWFP expert, currently national coordinator of the Action against Desertification project.

Maika Daveta is the FAO National Coordinator for the Paris Agreement in Action through FLR project in Fiji. Prior to taking up this post, from January 2017 to March 2021, he was also the National Project Coordinator for the Action Against Desertification project. Before joining FAO, he was the Forestry Officer Tree Improvement under the Silviculture Research Division of the Ministry of Forestry, Fiji (2013-2016) and was also the ACIAR-USP Graduate Officer at the University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji (2012-2013). He holds a degree in Biology and Chemistry and a Postgraduate Diploma in Biotechnology. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Biology at the University of the South Pacific. 

Sama Wata Issoufou is the National Coordinator for FAO in Niger of the project Action Against Desertification since June 2016. Previously, he was Coordinator of the Network of Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Observatories and Director of the National Center for Environmental and Ecological Monitoring. He holds a degree in Forestry Engineering and a Master's Degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University Abdou Moumouni of Niamey. He also holds a degree in Territorial Planning from the National Agronomic Institute of Paris-Grignon. He has more than 35 years of professional experience in natural resource management and environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Goubour Kimba, Forestry Engineer, has been the Project Assistant for Forest and Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Land Management in the Sahel (FLR/SLM) for FAO in Niger since 2019. He has worked for ten years in development projects and programmes in Niger where he had different responsibilities and participated in the implementation of various programs, including the Community Action Program project. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger. He also holds a Master II degree in Natural Resources and Biodiversity Management from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou, Benin.

Meshack Muga holds a MSc in Wood Science from Melbourne University and Post graduate Diploma in designing sustainable forest landscapes from Helsinki University. Currently, he is  the National Project Coordinator for FAO-Kenya/ GEF6-TRI Project. Previously, he was a Principal Research Scientist at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). Mr. Muga has experience in developing FLRM projects including GEF 6. He has participated in the development of  FAO global guidelines (2015) for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands.He coordinated projects on mechanized water harvesting technologies for Kenyan ASALs.

Faustino Oliveira, born in São Tomé and Principe, graduated in Natural Sciences at the University of Perugia, Italy, and currently works as National Project Coordinator (NPC) for the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM). He previously worked as NPC of the project on Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) and Food Security through Sustainable Forest Management.  As a naturalist, he has also worked for the implementation of conservation projects that led to the creation of a Botanical Garden and the National Herbarium (STPH). He is a Master student in Educational Science.

Nzale Sumail studied at the University of Lubumbashi, Faculty of Letters 1991. He was a teacher at the secondary school from 1992 to 1994. He was also Administrator of a Savings and Credit Cooperative "COOPEC" from 1992 to 1996, Auditor and Administrator of the Regional Council of Non-Governmental Organizations of South Kivu "CRONGD" from 2004 to 2017. He worked as Animator, Program Officer and Coordinator of a Local NGO from 1988 to 2017. In 2017, he also worked as Development Expert at the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. Since 2018, he is National Coordinator of the TRI/DRC Project funded by GEF with FAO support.

Ryan Vita is the National Biodiversity, Environment and Natural Resources Specialist of the FAO Representation in the Philippines and serves as the national coordinator for various projects in the country related to the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism. He has previously worked as Executive Director and Program Supervisor of a national Civil Society Organization and has over 15 years of experience working on the development and implementation of numerous field and research projects related to forest and landscape restoration, natural resources management and biodiversity conservation. Mr Vita has a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry and a Certification in Professional Education from the University of the Philippines.