Raymond de Silva
Indigenous Landscapes Director
Raymond De Silva Indigenous Landscapes Director © Raymond De Silva
Areas of Expertise
People-Centred Conservation, Environmental and Cultural Heritage legislation and policy.
Biography
Raymond de Silva is the Indigenous Landscapes Director, based in Perth. His role is to oversee all aspects of The Nature Conservancy Australia’s Outback strategy. This includes including leadership, technical and program support, working collaboratively with First Nations Australians to deliver cultural, social, economic, and environmental outcomes across the country.
Raymond (Ray) is a sustainable development practitioner, who has worked at the nexus of human development and ecological protection for the last 30 years. His formative years as an international development specialist had a strong focus on sustainability of vulnerable ecosystems and communities. In more recent years, Ray has had dedicated roles in service of First Nation Australians. This has included the privilege of managing Native Title Corporations in remote and rural Australia which invariably involved protecting and managing cultural and environmental (biocultural) values ‘on country’.
Ray draws from a PhD in Sustainability-aimed at reconciling resource governance alternatives in coastal management contexts. The journey-before, during and after formal studies -has led to a wide range of experiences with government, not for profit and academia negotiating challenging but sound outcomes on country with Industry (such as mining and pastoralism sectors). This has resulted in collaborative, equitable and alternative approaches to build integrated solutions in contexts characterized by complexity and subjectivity. Ray is a strong advocate of doing things differently and taking organizations on journeys to adapt to the needs of each context. Experience has taught that inter and intra-generational equity is best achieved when people are empowered and when strengths-based approaches are used.