Professor Richard Cowling, previously director of the Institute for Plant Conservation at the University of Cape Town, is currently a Research Professor in the Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit at the University of Port Elizabeth. Richard's research has concentrated on the plant ecology and conservation biology of southern Africa's Cape and Succulent Karoo hot spots. Over the past 20 years he has published some 150 scientific papers and five books arising from research in these exceptionally species-rich and vulnerable regions. He is also involved in the implementation of conservation systems, and has played an important role in the establishment of ten national parks or nature reserves. He has also addressed a wide range of audiences on the biological and socio-economic importance of effective conservation in the two hot spots. In 1994, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship for his research and activism in the Cape hot spot.

Most recently, Richard has directed research on the terrestrial biodiversity component for the GEF-funded Cape Action Plan for the Environment (CAPE) Project. This project has produced a systematic and strategic plan for the conservation of the Cape's biodiversity. Both here, and in the Succulent Karoo, he and his colleagues have pioneered research that explicitly incorporates ecological and evolutionary processes into conservation plans. His current research is focusing on the design and establishment of mega conservation areas that can accommodate the full spectrum of processes required for the persistence of biodiversity.