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Champions of Change: Empowering Bamboo for a better Future
Dedicated volunteers steer the World Bamboo Organization. The Ambassadors work independently but are connected as a team, and we collaborate to expand the potential of our actions and our mission.
Peggy Stern
Ecuador / United States
Forest Ecology, Native Bamboos & Watershed Restoration
Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Stern is a forest ecologist and internationally recognized expert in tropical forest conservation, ecological restoration, and native bamboo management. With more than 30 years of experience in Latin America, particularly in Ecuador and the Amazon Basin, she has dedicated her career to understanding the relationships between forests, water, biodiversity, and sustainable land management.
Trained as an ecologist, Dr. Stern began her career conducting field research in the Peruvian Amazon, where she developed a systems-based approach to conservation. She later earned her Ph.D. studying the regeneration of Andean cloud forests in Ecuador, with a particular focus on the ecological role of native bamboos in forest recovery. Her work has demonstrated how bamboo species contribute to ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, and landscape restoration.
Throughout her career, Dr. Stern has collaborated with research institutions, government agencies, local communities, and international organizations to promote responsible forest management and ecological restoration. She has played an important role within the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Ecuador, contributing to national forest standards, auditing processes, and the promotion of bamboo as a valuable non-timber forest resource.
In recent years, Dr. Stern has become a leading advocate for the restoration of degraded Amazonian landscapes using native bamboo species. Her work has shown how bamboo can stabilize soils, improve hydrological functions, accelerate ecological succession, and support biodiversity recovery in areas affected by mining and deforestation. She has also emphasized the critical connection between forests and water, promoting watershed-scale conservation as a foundation for climate resilience.
Dr. Stern is co-author of the Smithsonian publication American Bamboos, an important reference on the diversity, ecology, and significance of bamboo species across the Americas. Through her scientific research, publications, and conservation leadership, she continues to advance the understanding of native bamboos as essential components of healthy tropical ecosystems and sustainable restoration initiatives.
