Reg Hoyt

Reg Hoyt "is President, CEO, and Founder of Forest Partners International. Trained as a mammalogist and museum specialist, Reg has a BA from Nasson College in Biology, MA from Texas Tech University in Biological Sciences and Museum Science, and has worked towards a Ph.D. in Zoology at Arizona State University (although no degree was conferred). Reg committed more than 20 years of his career to work in zoos. Holding various curatorial and management positions in four zoos around the US, his last position was as Senior Vice President for Conservation & Science at the Philadelphia Zoo. During his tenure, he managed 30 conservation programs in countries around the globe, with an emphasis on community-based action, environmental education, and applied research. Particularly noteworthy was his work in Liberia, West Africa which promoted the sustainable management of Liberia’s wildlife, with an emphasis on the bushmeat issue.

"In November 2003, Reg left the Philadelphia Zoo to found a new conservation organization called Forest Partners International. With a core belief that the future of tropical forests and wildlife and the rural poor that depend upon them for their sustenance and livelihoods are inextricably linked, Reg continues to focus his efforts on Liberia. His research still includes the over-exploitation and trade in Liberia’s wildlife, but has expanded to include studies of the social and economic impacts of the harvest. Other activities include a national public awareness campaign, the evaluation of human-wildlife conflicts adjacent to Sapo National Park (Liberia’s only national park), and the development of an “Adopt a Village” program that promotes education, health and development activities in targeted rural communities. His goal is make rural communities stockholders in conservation, not just stakeholders through programming that links human development and biodiversity conservation goals, rather than isolating them from one another.

"Reg hopes to bring a broad interdisciplinary approach from his diverse background in education, captive collection management, practical research and in situ conservation to BCTF’s Steering Committee."

• Steering Committee, Bushmeat Crisis Task Force