Cláudio C. Maretti has a Ph.D. in Human Geography and M.Sc. in Land-Use Planning (mostly geophysical elements), and is currently a researcher, freelance consultant, volunteer, and post-doctoral fellow on Collaborative Conservation and Protected Areas, Dept. Geography, São Paulo University. He is also an international expert on protected and conserved areas, land use planning, sustainable development initiatives, support to traditional communities, and the society–nature relationships. His recent and current work include World Heritage, other areas-based effective conservation measures (OECMs), equity and protected areas, and local protected and conserved protected areas systems. He is a member of Expert Assessment Group of the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved areas for Brazil; IUCN World Commission on Protected areas; and Atibaia Socio-environmental Committee. . He was formerly president and director of Chico Mendes Institute (Brazilian federal protected areas agency); executive coordinator of the Congress on Protected Areas of the Latin-America and the Caribbean; vice-chair of IUCN WCPA for South America; leader of the WWF global network Living Pan-Amazon Initiative; director of WWF-Brazil; project leader of IUCN in West Africa; programme coordinator and analyst of Sao Paulo State institutions, such as Forest Foundation (currently the state-protected areas agency), State Secretariat, CETESB (state environmental agency), and the state coastal zone agency.