Dr Richard Cuthbert - Director of Conservation

Richard joined WLT as Director of Conservation in 2018 and works to oversee and implement the strategic direction of our conservation programmes and the growing network of partners and projects that WLT is supporting.

A conservation scientist by training, he aims to ensure that WLT’s work is addressing global conservation priorities and supporting impactful projects benefiting biodiversity, the climate, and local communities.

With more than two decades in international biodiversity conservation, Richard has worked independently and with leading organisations including the RSPB and its international Birdlife Partners in South Asia and the UK Overseas Territories, and with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Papua New Guinea.

Forest road marking the boundary between Deng Deng NP and Community Forest Reserves, Cameroon.

With extensive international experience, Richard has worked in more than 30 countries and territories, in all seven continents, often undertaking extended periods of fieldwork and visits with local organisations.

Richard studied at the University of Newcastle obtaining a BSc in Zoology before then undertaking a PhD at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers, is a member of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission and World Commission on Protected Areas, and is currently a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge.

Outside of work he enjoys being outdoors, climbing and mountain biking, gardening and walking his dog and is passionate about anything to do with cricket