About Julie Thomas

Head of Conservation Programmes (Senior Leadership Team)

Julie has an interest in inclusive conservation and throughout her career has worked to enhance community voices in conservation planning and policymaking.

She grew up in rural Somerset and as child was able to freely roam the fields and woods, becoming immersed in the excitement of exploring every season, close-up. This has shaped the way she sees the world and instilled a lifelong respect for nature.

With formal training in biology and environmental sciences, she began her career in Local Government supporting marginal communities in Tanzania and the UK to have a greater voice in decisions that directly affected their lives and to develop and implement their own solutions to environmental challenges.

Since then, Julie has continued to champion the importance of locally-led approaches to conservation that recognise people’s needs and rights. She has worked extensively in Eastern and Southern Africa and China shaping the policies and practices of governments, businesses, and conservation NGOs.

This includes working for 15 years with WWF UK, initially as their social development adviser but going on to lead innovative work bringing organisations together from across the world to work collectively to embed sustainability principles in China’s aid, trade, and investment with Africa.

Julie is passionate that children and young people can access, explore, and connect with nature. She is a qualified Forest School Leader and helped establish Nature Nurture Sussex which is making Forest School more accessible to low-income families and children with special educational needs.