BIOFIN Team

Onno van den Heuvel

Head of the Biodiversity Finance Portfolio

Onno is Head of the Biodiversity Finance Portfolio at UNDP – based at the UNDP Representation Office in Brussels. He oversees biodiversity financing at UNDP and the work of BIOFIN, including programme development, resource mobilisation and partnerships. Previously, he was UNDP Biodiversity Programme Officer and Environment Team Leader in Mongolia for four years, where he was responsible for protected area financing, community-based conservation and environmental policy. He also worked in Mongolia as a policy expert for the establishment of a Clean Air Fund and for four years in Kenya at UN-HABITAT’s regional office for Africa and the Arab States. Onno holds a Master’s degree in Economic Geography from Utrecht University.

Martin Cadena

Global Programme Manager

Martin is a biologist with over 15 years of experience in project management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental policy, working with communities, governments, nonprofit and international organizations.

He first joined UNDP in 2011 as a national consultant and project manager, supporting integrated nature-climate strategies and solutions in Mexico’s protected areas. He later joined the Global Policy Network as a technical expert on biodiversity and a community manager for the environment. In these roles, he provided policy and capacity-building support to over 30 countries on their reporting under the Convention on Biological Diversity and fostered global knowledge-sharing communities to accelerate environmental action.

Beyond UNDP, Martin has contributed to developing biodiversity monitoring systems and environmental education programmes. He has also led extensive participatory processes to inform national nature-related strategies and plans, including some incorporating finance aspects inspired by the BIOFIN methodology.

A photography enthusiast, Martin enjoys visiting National Parks and historic sites.

He holds an M.Sc. in Ecology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a B.Sc. in Biology from the Universidad de las Américas-Puebla. He is a certified knowledge manager and a Lead Fellow in Leadership for Sustainable Development.

Mariana Bellot

Global Finance Advisor and Project Technical Lead

Mariana is a Global Finance Advisor and Project Technical Lead and has over 18 years of experience working on biodiversity policy and finance issues. She was formerly the National Coordinator for BIOFIN Mexico and worked for several environmental agencies in the Mexican Government. She has extensive experience on a wide range of issues related to biodiversity conservation, protected area finance, ecosystem services, ecosystem-based adaptation, and has closely worked with international organisations such as UNDP, WB, GEF, GIZ, KFW and AFD. Mariana holds a Master´s Degree in Environmental Policy and Development Studies from the University of Sussex.

Marco Arlaud

Programme Specialist for BPPS Nature Hub

Marco Arlaud joins the UNDP Brussels Office as Programme Specialist for BPPS Nature Hub. In his new role he will focus on relationships with EU partners and resource mobilization for UNDP and the Nature Hub as well as programme management and technical support to the global UNDP nature finance portfolio, including the Biodiversity Finance Initiative.

Prior to this appointment, Marco served as the Global Deputy Manager for the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN). In this capacity, he supported the growth of the programme from 15 to 131 countries. He brings over a decade of specialized experience in Environmental Finance, Programme Management and Resource Mobilization. Before joining the UN system, he gained private sector experience in macroeconomic research at the bank Pictet & Cie as well as experience in the academic sector.

Marco holds an Executive MBA from HEC Paris, alongside three Master’s degrees in Finance (Sorbonne University), Economics of Sustainable Development (EHESS), and Quantitative Economics (Sorbonne University).

Andrew Seidl

Senior Technical Advisor

Andy’s role in BIOFIN includes national technical support to Belize, Brazil, Fiji, Malaysia and Ecuador, and global technical support in economic valuation, finance and policy analysis. He has been Professor & Public Policy Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University since 1997.  From 2009-12, he was Head, Global Economics Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), based in Switzerland.  Dr. Seidl holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida, USA.

Annabelle Trinidad

Senior Technical Advisor

MS. ANNABELLE “Abbie” TRINIDAD is Senior Technical Advisor for BIOFIN handling the Philippines, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Indonesia. She has more than two decades of work experience in environmental economics, sustainable financing, and policy and institutional analysis, mainly in the fisheries and coastal sectors. Abbie has written a number of papers on fisheries policy and economics, including peer-reviewed materials and co-authored a book entitled “Values of Philippine Coastal Resources: Why Protection and Management are Critical”. She has worked with major donor agencies Abbie has an undergraduate degree in Statistics and a masteral degree in Applied Business Economics.

Herve Barois

Senior Technical Advisor

Hervé is a Technical Adviser for Central Asia and East Africa covering Zambia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Uganda, Kygyzstan, Malawi and Tanzania. He is a senior consultant in environmental finance with more than 20 years of  professional experience in the Eastern Southern African, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia region in the field of sustainable resources management, biodiversity conservation and climate change (mitigation and adaptation). In Addition, he has project identification and formulation working experiences with different organisations such as Global Environment Facility, European Union, Global Mechanism, UNDP, UNCDF, Global Climate Change Alliance, Green Climate Fund.

Tracey Cumming

Senior Technical Advisor

Tracey is a Technical Advisor with BIOFIN, working specifically with countries in Africa and Asia. She is also a member of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Panel of Experts on Resource Mobilisation, tasked with developing a draft framework for resource mobilisation for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Tracey holds a BSc in Economics and Environmental Science, and an MSc in Environmental Science. Tracey has extensive experience in biodiversity finance and policy at a national and international level, and led BIOFIN in South Africa before joining the global BIOFIN team in 2017. She has led and collaborated on numerous publications, including on biodiversity finance, ecological infrastructure, protected area finance, mainstreaming biodiversity and biodiversity offsets.

Bruno N Mweemba

Senior Technical Advisor

Bruno N Mweemba is the BIOFIN Technical Advisor on Environmental Finance for the African Region currently covering Zambia, Uganda and Malawi.

Prior to joining the BIOFIN Global Team, Bruno also worked in Zambia as Country Team Leader and Lead Consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN). He was particularly critical in the mainstreaming of green finance into Zambia’s financial sector and the development of Zambia’s green bond market.

Bruno is a Development Finance Expert and Chartered Accountant by training with extensive expertise in Environmental Finance, Project Finance, Financial Management and Accounting with over 18 years experience.

Academically, he has a Master of Philosophy in Development Finance (Nelson Mandela University, South Africa) and an MBA in Financial Services (University of East London, United Kingdom). He is also a Certified Expert in Climate & Renewable Energy Finance (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management-Germany), Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and an Infrastructure Project Finance Expert (Middlesex University-UK).

Gaurav Gupta

Senior Nature Investment Advisor

Gaurav is the Nature Investment Advisor for BIOFIN, working on catalyzing private finance for biodiversity. He leads the work on innovative financing instruments for Big Cats landscapes such as conservation bonds, blended finance funds, and nature credits. Before joining UNDP, he worked with WWF for 8 years in several Southeast Asian countries managing landscape conservation programmes. He also worked with Barclays Capital for 4 years in Singapore in financial risk management. He holds a Bachelor and Master in Computer Science from IIT Delhi, an MBA and is a CFA charter holder.

Jasmin Blessing

Gender Equality and Safeguards Specialist

Jasmin Blessing is the new Gender Equality and Safeguards Specialist at BIOFIN.

Jasmin has over 15 years of experience integrating gender equality considerations into development projects and programs. Since 2009, she has served various advisory roles on gender and social inclusion across more than 13 countries.

Before joining BIOFIN, Jasmin was a Gender Advisor for Climate Change at UNDP’s Climate Promise HQ. She has also supported gender-responsive humanitarian responses following earthquakes (Ecuador), hurricanes (British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic), and in post-conflict situations (Colombia). In this capacity, she has worked closely with the Kalinago Indigenous community in Dominica and Indigenous women’s groups in Ecuador.

Passionate about advancing opportunities for the most vulnerable, Jasmin holds a degree in Latin American Development from Portsmouth University and a Master’s in Human Rights from the National University of Ireland.

Fernanda Montero

Climate Change Adaptation Specialist

Fernanda Montero has joined the Climate and Nature Hubs as the Climate Change Adaptation for the Biodiversity Finance Initiative as of April 1st. She will be responsible for integrating climate change adaptation objectives into global tools, enhancing national adaptation plans, advising on integrated approaches between biodiversity finance and NAP strategies, and evaluating financing solutions for adaptation co-benefits.

Fernanda has over 10 years of experience in environmental finance and international cooperation. As Senior Advisor at GIZ Mexico, Fernanda led efforts to integrate sustainable criteria in the banking sector and coordinated climate action initiatives with the Ministry of Finance. Priorly, as Director for Sustainable Finance at the Ministry of Finance, she was Mexico’s focal point to multilateral environmental funds (GEF, GCF) and oversaw the funds’ national project portfolio. Fernanda was also in charge of negotiating loans with multilateral and bilateral development banks and represented Mexico in the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, the G20, and other international fora. As Advisor for BIOFIN Mexico, she was responsible for the national biodiversity expenditure review and developed innovative financing solutions for biodiversity, collaborating with government and private sector stakeholders to mainstream biodiversity into national policies and impact investing. Furthermore, during her time at the National Commission for Protected Areas, she supported the international cooperation project pipeline. She advised on biodiversity finance negotiations, contributing to the development of financial strategies for protected areas.

Fernanda is Co-Founder of Nomad Adventures, a regenerative extreme sport tourism company based in Mexico. She has also been a consultant for CIMMYT, UNESCO, and the IDB.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Tecnologico de Monterrey.