Musonda MUMBA

Dr Mumba is a Zambian-born environmentalist with over 25 years of global experience in environmental management and sustainable development. She joins the Convention on Wetlands from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she has served as Senior Advisor on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, leading UNDP’s engagement as a Strategic Collaborating Partner in the Decade, and as Director for the Rome Centre for Sustainable Development, with a focus on climate change, sustainable development and nature protection.Prior to joining UNDP, Dr Mumba worked at the global headquarters of the UN Environment Programme for 12 years in different functions, including as Head of the UNEP Terrestrial Ecosystems Programme.She is the founder of the Network of African Women Environmentalists (NAWE) and she has received numerous accolades for her work, including being named one the 100 most influential African women. On International Women’s Day 2022, she was honoured by the Global Landscape Forum (GLF) as one of 16 women from around the world restoring the planet.She started her career at the Environmental Council of Zambia, and has held positions with WWF at its international headquarters in Switzerland, and in East Africa as well as having worked at the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands as a Junior Professional between 1998 and 1999.Dr Mumba holds a PhD in Wetland Hydrology and Conservation from University College London (UCL), and has published extensively in scientific journals and as a contributor to book chapters and in news media. She is an Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL and a visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Perry World House (PWH) of University of Pennsylvania.

Conservation ScienceClimate ChangeBiodiversityEnvironmental JusticeSustainability

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Speaking history

IUCN World Conservation Congress

9 October 2025 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

One Conservancy Science Gathering

15 October 2026 Arlington, United States “The Global Biodiversity Framework and Inland Waters: From Goals to Implementation”

Topics this speaker covers

Conservation ScienceClimate ChangeBiodiversityEnvironmental JusticeSustainability

Sectors

environment_conservationEnvironmental Services

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