Dr. José Courrau is a Costa Rican biodiversity conservation expert with more than 30 years of experience. Dr. Courrau began his career in the National Park Service of Costa Rica as a protected area manager. During his professional career, he has worked for government agencies, international organizations (IUCN, UNESCO), universities (University of Queensland, Australia), and international NGOs (World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and Conservation International). Dr. Courrau has distinguished himself internationally on different topics related to protected areas; in particular, management effectiveness, the planning of sites and systems of protected areas, and the management of visitors in protected areas, among others. José has contributed to biodiversity conservation in several countries around the world.

Currently, he works for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in the Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. From this position, Dr. Courrau is responsible for all aspects related to biodiversity conservation, in particular, protected areas management effectiveness, the Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas, the World Heritage Convention, the Red List of Species and the Red List of Ecosystems.