Education
BSc in Ecology and Conservation, University of St. Andrews
MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management, University of Oxford
Benjamin is a conservationist and nature tech expert with over 15 years of experience leading complex projects across Europe, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. His career has been defined by a commitment to species and habitat recovery, partnership and capacity building, and applied biodiversity monitoring.
Benjamin’s journey began supporting endemic species recovery programs in St Lucia with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and later exploring the dynamics between jaguars and marine turtles in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. He later held technical and leadership field roles with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Cambodia program, supporting community lead ecotourism programs, and the RSPB/Gola Rainforest National Park, aiding transboundary conservation efforts between Sierra Leone and Liberia. Throughout these roles, he spearheaded multi-stakeholder initiatives to protect under-supported taxa, including Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon, Western Red Colobus, and Pygmy Hippos, while aligning conservation goals with national policy and donor requirements.
Most recently, as the Head of Conservation and Impact at NatureMetrics, Benjamin focused on scaling biodiversity monitoring through emerging technologies. He helped to validate and expand the use of eDNA to identify overlooked taxa and link conservation and monitoring efforts with nature financing opportunities. As part of his role he also led training campaigns and initiatives to build capacity with partners and key stakeholders across diverse landscapes and habitats, ensuring government participation and collaboration.
As a keen explorer and storyteller, Benjamin’s work has been featured in outlets like NatGeo Italia and Mongabay. When he isn’t managing conservation portfolios or coordinating remote expeditions, he is likely found in the mountains or on the water with friends and family; his outdoor pursuits range from summiting peaks, from the Alps to the Andes and Atlas mountains, to multi-day expeditions and completing self-sufficient river descents by packraft.
Publications
- Aleixo-Pais I, Borges F, Da Silva F, Barca B, Joana M, Moreira AF, Bruford MW, Minhós T. 2023. Dietary flexibility of western red colobus in two protected areas with contrasting anthropogenic pressure. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11:1280277.
- Rozendaal DM, Requena Suarez D, De Sy V, Avitabile V, Carter S, Adou Yao C, Alvarez-Davila E, Anderson-Teixeira K, Araujo-Murakami A, Arroyo L, Barca B,.....Herold M.. 2022. Aboveground forest biomass varies across continents, ecological zones and successional stages: Refined IPCC default values for tropical and subtropical forests. Environmental Research Letters 17:014047.
- Carvalho JS, Graham B, Bocksberger G, Maisels F, Williamson EA, Wich S, Sop T, Amarasekaran B, Barca B, Barrie A….Kuhl H. 2021. Predicting range shifts of African apes under global change scenarios. Diversity and Distributions 27:1663–1679.
- Valle S, Collar NJ, Barca B, Dauda P, Marsden SJ. 2019. Low abundance of the Endangered timneh parrot (Psittacus timneh) in one of its presumed strongholds. Oryx:1–3.
- Freeman B, Jiménez-García D, Barca B, Grainger M. 2019. Using remotely sensed and climate data to predict the current and potential future geographic distribution of a bird at multiple scales: the case of Agelastes meleagrides, a western African forest endemic. Avian Research 10:22.
- Barca B, Turay BS, Kanneh BA, Tayleur C. 2018. Nest ecology and conservation of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone. Primate Conservation 32.
- Barca B, Vincent C, Soeung K, Nuttall M, Hobson K. 2016. Multi-female group in the southernmost species of Nomascus: field observations in eastern Cambodia reveal multiple breeding females in a single group of southern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon Nomascus gabriellae. Asian Primates Journal 6:15–19.
- Barca B, Lindon A, Root-Bernstein M. 2016. Environmentalism in the crosshairs: Perspectives on migratory bird hunting and poaching conflicts in Italy. Global Ecology and Conservation 6:189–207.
- Guilder J, Barca B, Arroyo-Arce S, Gramajo R, Salom-Pérez R. 2015. Jaguars (Panthera onca) increase kill utilization rates and share prey in response to seasonal fluctuations in nesting green turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas) abundance in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. Mammalian Biology 80:65–72.
- Barca B, Nuttal M, Hobson K. 2015. A diurnal observation of Small-toothed Palm Civets Arctogalidia trivirgata mating in Seima Protection Forest, Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. Small Carnivore Conservation 52:39–44.
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