James R. Barborak

James R. (Jim) Barborak, M. Sc., is a specialist in protected area planning and management; conservation finance, policy and governance; conservation and tourism capacity building; and ecotourism. He has worked for US, Honduran and Costa Rican government agencies; as a consultant to UN organizations; for leading international NGOs including WWF, IUCN, Conservation International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society; and for U.S. and Costa Rican universities. He has worked in over 25 countries, in the USA, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Throughout his career, he has worked on efforts to plan and develop increased opportunities for public enjoyment of protected areas, through tourism, recreation, and environmental education. He has also been actively involved in efforts to increase the stream of benefits to local communities living in and around protected areas, through employment creation and improved livelihoods in protected areas, the buffer zones that ring them, the corridors that connect them, and associated tourism destinations. He is an active member of the Tourism and Protected Area Specialist Group of the World Commission on Protected Areas and an academic adviser of the Center for Responsible Tourism.