Biographies of the Co-Facilitators

Born on July 24, 1973, Mrs Salina GRENET-CATALANO is a graduate from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. She is also holder of a diploma in literal Arabic language and civilisation. 

In 1997, she kicks off her career in French diplomacy and holds different positions in central administration including Adviser to the Minister Delegate of Cooperation and Francophonie and Mission head at the Crisis Centre of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A major part of Mrs Salina GRENET-CATALANO’s career was international. She actually holds the position of political advisor in Syria, Croatia and Italy She was most recently appointed Assistant Mission Head in Lebanon.

In 2020, she was appointed Ambassador for the Republic of Cyprus by the French President.

Mrs Salina GRENET-CATALANO was appointed on July 5, 2024, by decrees of the Prime Minister and the Minister in charge of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Director of Global Affairs of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.  It is in this light that she takes over Mr Christophe GUILHOU and becomes French’s new Co-facilitator for the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP).

Moreover, Mrs Salina GRENET-CATALANO was elevated to Knight of the National Order of Merit in acknowledgement of her contribution within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Born in the Republic of Congo in 1967, Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo was raised in a family of diplomats, which enabled her to live in several countries (Netherlands, France, Congo, Rwanda, Niger, Cameroon, Senegal and Mali), exposing her to different cultures. She is fluent in French, English and Lingala, and has a basic knowledge of German.

She holds a PhD in Biology - Plant Cellular and Molecular Physiology from the University of Paris VII, with congratulations from the Jury, and has a solid academic background in the biology of plant organisms, with a Master II degree that won the IRD Christiane DORE prize for the best scientific contribution. She holds a certification in biosafety, a certification in plant variety protection system and a Master's degree in the management and conservation of internationally traded species from the International University of Andalusia in Spain.

After her post-doctoral studies in Toulouse and Angers in France, Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo worked as a researcher at the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory of the Institute of Agronomic and Forest Research of the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research in Libreville, Gabon. She has published several research articles on environmental issues and developed numerous regional and international scientific cooperation programmes.

She is a member of the National Select Committee which aims to integrate Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) into the Gabonese corpus. Her expertise in MEAs covers various instruments (UNESCO-MAB, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)), where she participates in statutory meetings and Conferences of the Parties as head of delegation.

Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo is the first person from the African continent to be elected Chair of the Plants Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a position she has held since August 2019.

In August 2021, Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo was appointed Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative to the Permanent Mission of Gabon to the United Nations in New York. She was responsible for climate change, the environment, the oceans and sustainable development. Her technical and political expertise was thus extended to issues of peace and security, where science has the potential to build bridges between conflicting interests.

In October 2023, she was appointed Roving Ambassador  for Gabon, in charge of climate, environment and sustainable development.

In November 2023, Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo was appointed Co-Facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) by the Government of the Republic of Gabon for the period October 2023 to 2025.