Maël Imirizaldu

Maël is the senior regional program officer of the Pacific region and the French-speaking countries for the Blue Nature Alliance. Maël is responsible for cultivating new relationships, leading the scoping of new locations, and coordinating with implementing partners to ensure ocean conservation success. Maël was born in France, grew up in New Caledonia, and is now based in Sydney, Australia. Before joining the Alliance, Maël worked for seven years to design and launch Conservation International’s marine conservation program in New Caledonia. In that role, he supported the establishment of the Natural Park of the Coral Sea, strengthened community-based management for the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ouvea, facilitated the development of responsible and sustainable fisheries, and participated in several biodiversity expeditions and stock assessment in the Coral Sea, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Tonga, and Nauru. Maël holds a Master of Marine and Coastal Science from the European University Institute for the Sea and a Master of Functional Ecology from the University of Perpignan in France.