Simon Rietbergen obituary

Simon Rietbergen recently helped set up the UN”s Great Green Wall Initiative, which aims to combat deforestation in the Sahel region of Africa Photograph: none

My friend and former colleague Simon Rietbergen, who has died aged 65 from multiple brain tumours, was a forestry expert who worked extensively worldwide to protect endangered forests, but especially in Africa, from the Congo Basin to the degraded drylands of the Sahel.

Simon was deeply committed to developing progressive approaches to tropical forests that would not impinge negatively on the lives of people who live in and near them, and who depend on them for their livelihoods.