Lee White (conservationist)

Lee James Taylor White CBE (born 26 July 1965) is a British-Gabonese conservationist who served as the Gabonese Minister of Water, Forests, the Sea and Environment from 2019 to 2023.[1][2][3] He has worked in the fields related to climate change, the preservation and management of natural resources, protected areas and ecotourism. White was tasked with managing deforestation and illegal logging and the country's population of African Forest Elephants.[4][5][6] He oversaw the creation of Gabon's carbon credits program in 2022.[7][8]

Lee White
White in 2021
Minister of Water, Forest, the Sea and Environment of Gabon
In office
2019–2023
PresidentAli Bongo Ondimba
Personal details
Born (1965-07-26) 26 July 1965
Manchester, United Kingdom

White was quoted by The New York Times as saying that without countries like Gabon leading in conservation as "examples of countries where we are solving the problems, then who is anyone else going to learn from?"[1] He was appointed CBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to conservation.

Following the 2023 Gabonese coup d'état, it was reported that White had been replaced as a government minister under the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions.[9]

References
  1. Searcey, Dionne; Bashizi, Arlette (3 November 2022). "Can a Nation Replace Its Oil Wealth With Trees?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. "Leading conservationist appointed to Gabon's government". The Independent. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  3. "Lee White out as Gabon's water and forest minister". www.qcintel.com. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  4. "Nothing will change on climate until death toll rises in west, says Gabonese minister". the Guardian. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  5. "How photos protected a country's forest elephants". BBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  6. Collins, Tom. "Gabon sets example of how to preserve the Congo Basin rainforest". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  7. Kavanagh, Michael (14 October 2022). "Gabon Carbon Credits Seen Fetching as Much as $35 a Ton". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  8. "An African Forest Is on Front-line in Fighting Climate Change". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  9. "Gabon junta names former Eramet executive as petrol minister", Reuters. 9 September 2023.
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