Pablo Cuenca

Pablo Cuenca is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam (Ikiam Amazon Regional University), Ecuador. He heads the Global Change Laboratory and serves as co-director of the Tropical Ecosystems and Global Change Research Group.
His research examines how deforestation and forest fragmentation in tropical Andean landscapes affect biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. His broader research interests include forest landscape restoration, ecological connectivity, the effectiveness of terrestrial conservation initiatives and environmental policies, and landscape and conservation planning. By integrating landscape ecology, spatial analysis, and policy evaluation, his work generates scientific evidence to support the sustainable management and restoration of tropical forests, particularly in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the tropical Andes.
Dr. Cuenca earned his PhD in Forest Sciences from the University of Concepción, Chile, graduating with highest distinction. He holds an MSc in Management and Conservation of Tropical Forests and Biodiversity from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica, and a professional degree in Forest Engineering from the National University of Loja, Ecuador.
His research has been published in peer-reviewed international journals and addresses applied questions related to protected-area effectiveness, avoided deforestation, landscape change, ecosystem services, and forest landscape restoration. He also contributes to university teaching, research collaboration, and science-based conservation and land-use planning.