Maria Teresa Vargas

Maria Teresa Vargas has a Masters in Forest Policy from Yale University and a Masters in International Relations from Costa Rica´s National University.  Teresa grew up in the city of Santa Cruz where she worked for 10 years as a journalist and environmental activist. Teresa has worked with the Center for International Forestry Research and the World Bank to assess the effect of changes in the Bolivian forestry law on incentives for private companies to manage their concessions sustainably. Teresa is currently executive director of the Fundacion Natura Bolivia, an NGO that focuses on developing local and national level projects to capture the value of environmental services through market mechanisms for sustainable management. She drives research on ecosystem services, especially those relating to water provisioning and purification.