Mark Schauer is the Senior Avisor to the ELD Initiative, focusing on external relations. Mark has been with GIZ in different positions with activities in the context of sustainable ecosystem management and restoration on both national and multilateral level. Before Mark joined GIZ, he worked for the United Nations Environment Programme as the Head of the Central Office of TEEB and the German Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU). His work has been centered on coordinating projects which link economic and ecologic issues, providing economic information for better decision making in the context of sustainable ecosystem management.

Mark holds a Master Degree in Forest Management from the University of Göttingen, Germany. After his graduation and gaining hands-on experience in forest management, he worked in Europe, southern and eastern Africa and southern Asia on natural resource management and nature conservation, focusing on this issue's interconnectedness with development, poverty alleviation and institutional support programmes.