Thiago

Beraldo Souza

Thiago Beraldo Souza is a Brazilian consultant with over 23 years of experience in sustainable tourism, biodiversity conservation, and protected area management across Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia. He holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology and has worked with governments (18 years for Brazil) and, recently for international organizations such as UNDP, IUCN, and UN Tourism to plan and implement ecotourism strategies that foster conservation, economic development, and social inclusion. His recent work includes leading tourism–biodiversity integration in Cabo Verde, tourism diversification planning in Uzbekistan, and interpretive planning in Albania. He currently serves as Chair of the IUCN WCPA Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group. Thiago is experienced in coordinating multi-stakeholder processes, designing nature-positive tourism policies, and delivering capacity-building programs. His areas of expertise include ecotourism planning, community-based tourism, wildlife tourism, long-distance trails, visitor monitoring, recreation concessions, and evaluating the economic impacts of tourism.