Seminar followed by Q&A and drinks – attend in person or join online – all welcome

Abstract: Lee will describe his journey from growing up as a young boy in Uganda, whose brother was an orphan chimpanzee, to becoming the Minister of Water, Forests, Sea and Environment in Gabon and the importance of science on that journey. From meeting wild chimps in Budongo Forest aged 5, taking his first steps into science and conservation in the Gola Forest in Sierra Leone aged 14, to arriving in Gabon ten years later, where his scientific journey began in earnest. He will describe learning to know and read the forest, piecing together the natural history of the wildlife, understanding forest history and appreciating the global significance of the Congo Basin.

Biography: Lee White CBE is a scientist, conservationist and politician with over 40 years experience in natural resource conservation and management in Equatorial Africa. He was director of the WCS Gabon programme (1992-2008); head of Gabon’s National Parks Agency (2009-2019); and served as Gabon’s Water, Forests, Sea and Environment Minister (2019-2023). He helped create over 50 protected areas, including Gabon’s network of 13 national parks. As head of national parks in Gabon he led the fight against ivory poaching, protecting the biggest population of forest elephants in Africa and dismantled an illegal forestry network stealing $400 million per year from the Gabonese economy. He raised over 500 million US$ of donor funding; registered 187 million tons of REDD+ results with the UNFCCC; put in place a Blue Bond for $500 million; and spoke on behalf of Africa at UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow. He founded Pangea Nature Partners in 2024 to design and implement a new financial mechanism to make forests more valuable alive than dead. He also acts as the Special Envoy of the Science Panel for the Congo Basin and is an honorary professor in the University of Stirling’s School of Natural Sciences.