Virgilio Viana is one of Brazil’s foremost experts in forestry and sustainable development. He is currently the Director General of the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), an organization charged with providing the institutional framework to market environmental services of Amazonas’ forests. He also served as Brazil’s first Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development for the state of Amazonas from 2003 to 2008.

Professor Viana coordinated the Brazilian consultative process that led to the establishment of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in 1993, and served as founder and President of IMAFLORA, the first Latin-American-based forest certifier. He received his PhD in Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University, and did post-doctoral work on sustainable development at the University of Florida.