Roland Melisch

Roland Melisch
Biodiversity Sector Economist
KfW Development Bank

© Roland Melisch

Short Bio Roland Melisch

Roland has been working at the 'Biodiversity and Natural Resources Competence Centre' within the KfW Development Bank since 2023, helping to activate internal and external knowledge relating to biodiversity. With KfW's portfolio encompassing 367 biodiversity projects with a total value of 4.5 billion EUR, KfW implements around 60 % of the total bilateral biodiversity funding of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 

Prior to joining KfW, Roland held several senior managerial roles at TRAFFIC, where he set up strategic partnerships with the CBD Secretariat and the African Union Commission. He was also responsible for supervising and strengthening the implementation of TRAFFIC's programmes in Asia, Africa and Europe, with the aim of ensuring that the trade of wild species is legal, sustainable and beneficial to biodiversity and people.

With more than 30 years' experience in conservation, the sustainable use of natural resources, and trade, Roland has held various roles, including managing WWF Germany’s global conservation programme, heading the otter conservation programme at Wetlands International in Indonesia, and working for the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). He is also a co-founder and former Vice-Chair of the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW).

Since 2008, Roland has been closely following the debates at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), particularly with regard to the Convention's first two objectives, the conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity. He has further closely followed CITES deliberations since 1995. He is also a member of the IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group. 

Roland is an Austrian national who studied biology at the universities of Darmstadt and Stuttgart-Hohenheim in Germany. He holds a diploma in Biology, which is equivalent to an MSc.