Born in the Republic of Congo in 1967, Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo was raised in a family of diplomats, which enabled her to live in several countries (Netherlands, France, Congo, Rwanda, Niger, Cameroon, Senegal and Mali), exposing her to different cultures. She is fluent in French, English and Lingala, and has a basic knowledge of German.
She holds a PhD in Biology - Plant Cellular and Molecular Physiology from the University of Paris VII, with congratulations from the Jury, and has a solid academic background in the biology of plant organisms, with a Master II degree that won the IRD Christiane DORE prize for the best scientific contribution. She holds a certification in biosafety, a certification in plant variety protection system and a Master's degree in the management and conservation of internationally traded species from the International University of Andalusia in Spain.
After her post-doctoral studies in Toulouse and Angers in France, Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo worked as a researcher at the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory of the Institute of Agronomic and Forest Research of the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research in Libreville, Gabon. She has published several research articles on environmental issues and developed numerous regional and international scientific cooperation programmes.
She is a member of the National Select Committee which aims to integrate Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) into the Gabonese corpus. Her expertise in MEAs covers various instruments (UNESCO-MAB, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)), where she participates in statutory meetings and Conferences of the Parties as head of delegation.
Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo is the first person from the African continent to be elected Chair of the Plants Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a position she has held since August 2019.
In August 2021, Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo was appointed Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative to the Permanent Mission of Gabon to the United Nations in New York. She was responsible for climate change, the environment, the oceans and sustainable development. Her technical and political expertise was thus extended to issues of peace and security, where science has the potential to build bridges between conflicting interests.
In October 2023, she was appointed Roving Ambassador for Gabon, in charge of climate, environment and sustainable development.
In November 2023, Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo was appointed Co-Facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) by the Government of the Republic of Gabon for the period October 2023 to 2025.
Please download the biography of Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo CBFP Co-Facilitator for the Republic of Gabon