Dr James Butler

James is a sustainability scientist with a multi-disciplinary background in development studies, agricultural economics, veterinary science, terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology gained in Africa, Europe, Australasia and the Asia-Pacific region. James develops trans-disciplinary and participatory action research processes and tools to address complex development problems in the Asia-Pacific region, northern Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on livelihoods and community development. He is interested in the application of adaptive co-management and knowledge brokering in generating conflict transformation. James is currently based at the Cawthron Institute in New Zealand, which focusses on coastal and freshwater conservation and governance challenges. In 2006 – 2022 James led the Livelihoods and Development Group at CSIRO, Australia’s national research agency. James has also worked on conservation conflicts in Scotland and Southern Africa. He is currently Co-chair of the IUCN Rewilding Working Group, and applies knowledge and experiences from the HWCC Specialist Group in the context of rewilding.