Sarah Schumann
Profile
Sarah Schumann is a conservationist interested in thriving social-ecological systems and sustainable land management. Sarah’s MPhil research investigates how conservation and development can align by examining the impacts of carbon-based financing in Africa’s rangelands. Her educational background includes an Honours degree in Environmental and Geographical Science, a Postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Governance of Wildlife and Community-based Natural Resource Management. She is also a qualified field guide.
Sarah has worked as a researcher at SANBI, traveling through South Africa to interview landholders about their contributions to and challenges of the wildlife economy and its land uses, as well as to assess the status and threats of indigenous plant overharvesting in South Africa. Currently, Sarah is the Project Lead at Rewild Capital, a developer of soil-carbon and biodiversity credit projects specialising in nature-based solutions in Africa’s grassy ecosystems. Through this role and programme, she aims to enhance her own and her company’s research interests by exploring the potential for market-based instruments to support triple-bottom-line impacts and resilience for climate, community, and biodiversity in working landscapes.
Field of research
- Social-ecological systems
- Biodiversity economy
- Working landscapes
- Payments for ecosystem services
