Erica MCCREEDY

Erica McCreedy, a Ngati Raukawa and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti woman from Aotearoa, New Zealand, serves as the Chief Operations Officer for the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), the sole Indigenous People Organisation (IPO) member for IUCN in Oceania. With over two decades of experience in Indigenous land and sea management globally, she is a passionate advocate for elevating Indigenous knowledge and leadership in global conservation, emphasizing the integration of Indigenous knowledge with Western science to address biodiversity loss and climate change.

Erica is a founding member in the development and implementation of the Podong Indigenous Initiative, a global partnership addressing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Paris Agreement targets. She leads NAILSMA's IPO work and previously spearheaded the development of a culturally appropriate training framework and the I-Tracker digital data monitoring application, combining Traditional and scientific knowledge systems. Erica has been a key lead in the convening and reporting of the Reimagining Conservation Forum - Working Together for Healthy Country in 2022 and 2024 in Australia, a First Nations-led forum that brought together Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders and practitioners involved in the policies and practices of land and sea management across Australia.

She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Indigenous Knowledge Systems and is committed to ensuring Indigenous voices drive conservation efforts.