About Us

We bring extensive experience navigating the environmental and social standards of international organizations, ensuring every project meets rigorous compliance requirements.

Development projects across our region are subject to growing environmental and social requirements, set through stringent standards by national regulators, international financing institutions, and private sector operators. Meeting these evolving demands requires rigorous assessments, structured engagement, and management systems grounded in reliable data. This is the work Ecocentra was conceived to deliver.

Delivering against these requirements makes our core strength. We are a regional environmental and social consultancy; a research practice delivering studies, impact assessments, due diligence, stakeholder engagement, resettlement planning, and management support. Our work serves national regulators and international financing institutions, as well as private sector clients. 

Our team is fully versed in the standards governing each assignment and grounded in the realities present within our clients' unique operating environments.

That alignment is reflected in our portfolio. We have delivered assignments funded by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, Agence Française de Développement, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and KfW. These projects require strict compliance with international environmental and social frameworks. They also require consultants who can deliver against those frameworks in the field of operations.

Our work spans the full project cycle. We begin with baseline studies and environmental and social impact assessments, and carry through to monitoring, supervision, and capacity building. This gives our clients a consistent line of sight, from early risk identification through to mitigation and long-term performance management.

Ecocentra now offers even deeper engagements with clients. This is due to our long-established strategic alliance with Engicon, a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy delivering planning, design, and construction supervision across the MENA region.

More recently, our alliance has been formalized through a strategic investment by Engicon in Ecocentra, positioning us within a broader platform with strong technical depth and regional delivery reach. 

For our clients, this means environmental and social requirements can be integrated directly with engineering, infrastructure planning, and implementation. The result is a single point of accountability for projects where environmental and social performance is integrated into technical delivery.

The Team

Ecocentra is supported by a dedicated team of full-time professionals who contribute to every project we undertake, complemented by a network of specialized consultants with whom we collaborate regularly.

Lama Bashour
Director

Ms. Bashour is an Environment and Social Consultant with 25 years of experience in development and environmental consultancy. Her work focuses on leading environmental and social assessment teams for a diverse array of infrastructure projects, review of ESIA reports and environmental and social due diligence and has prepared Environmental and Social Management Frameworks, Stakeholder Engagement Plans and Frameworks, Resettlement Action Plans and Frameworks, and Labour Management Procedures for various types of projects and programs. All the assessments undertaken required abiding by international and local standards including those adopted by the World Bank/IFC, UNDP< EBRD, EIB, KfW, AFD and JICA. Ms. Bashour has worked on many studies in the region including in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and has supported UNDP Country Offices internationally in various countries in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Ms Bashour’s educational background includes a Diploma for Graduates in Economics from the University of London/London School of Economics, Master’s Degree in Environmental Law & Conservation from the University of Kent in the UK and a Bachelor of Sciences in Public & Environmental Health from the American University of Beirut.

Joanna Zaghrini
Environmental Consultant

Ms. Zaghrini has 8 years of experience in environmental and social consulting. At Ecocentra, she has contributed to the preparation of ESIAs, IEEs, and environmental audits across a variety of projects, including reforestation, water and wastewater, roads, and industrial developments. She also has extensive experience supervising the implementation of Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) for World Bank-funded projects in Lebanon. Additionally, Ms. Zaghrini played a key role in preparing the State of the Environment Report for Lebanon 2020, contributing to the Environmental Governance and Chemical Management chapters. She holds a Master’s in Biodiversity: Management and Conservation of Natural Resources from the Lebanese University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology, combining strong academic training with hands-on project expertise.

Moussa Khayyat
Researcher

Mr. Khayyat is an Environmental and Social Consultant with 3 years of experience in research and consultancy. He has contributed to a range of environmental and social impact assessment studies for diverse infrastructure projects, as well as other research initiatives undertaken by Ecocentra. Mr. Khayyat holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science (Environmental Health) from the American University of Beirut and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Notre Dame University, bringing both strong academic training and practical experience to every project he supports.