Lucy Emerton has degrees in both Social Anthropology and Development Economics. Over the last 17 years she has been working as an environmental economist in Africa, Asia and Latin America, holding posts in various bilateral, multilateral and NGO agencies. Since the late 1990s, Lucy has established regional environmental economics programmes for IUCN in both Africa and Asia. For the last 4 years, she has been working as Regional Group Head of IUCN's Ecosystems and Livelihoods Group in Colombo, Sri Lanka.