Gerald Kairu is a multi-skilled professional with graduate training in environment/ natural resources management. Gerald has worked as National Project Manager with the World Wide Fund for Nature, Uganda Country Office and as Programme Manager with the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda. A Ugandan national, Gerald has worked in private, public and NGO sectors. He has over 10 years working experience in Community based natural resources management, Conservation financing schemes, ecosystem services, high value agriculture programmes and as a researcher in Wildlife –Community conservation programmes. He is an ardent team builder combining people leadership skills and effective project management principles.
Gerald holds a MSc in Environment & Natural Resources Management, a BSc. in Forestry from Makerere University, Uganda, a post graduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from the Uganda Management Institute and a Diploma in Environmental Services in Forest Management from the University of Helsinki, Finland.
His previous tasks included spearheading and promotion of resilience to climate change impacts amongst the rural communities in hard to reach areas in North Eastern Uganda, coordinating a regional project with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) focusing on developingMethods for Valuation, Attribution and Compensation for Environmental Services in East & CentralAfrica and the Pro-poor Rewards for Environmental Services in Africa, an ICRAF funded project. He helped to design community payment for ecosystem services schemes (carbon sequestration) in Rwanda and Malawi. Further, he served as a member of the Plan vivo Technical Advisory Group that reviews Project Design Documents and technical specifications for Plan vivo projects.
Prior to joining GWP, Gerald worked as a Technical Advisor for Climate Change/ Clean Development Mechanism with the Uganda Investment Authority.