Maria Julia Oliva is the Head of Policy at UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) where she oversees a team focused on accounting for the value for biodiversity in policy and providing support to incorporate biodiversity management into policy across many sectors. Previously, she was part of the UEBT staff team from 2009 to 2021 and last served as Deputy Director and Senior Coordinator for ABS and Policy. She is a trained lawyer with internationally recognized expertise on legal and policy issues linked to biodiversity.