Ian McNeel is a Barbados-based regenerative entrepreneur, impact investor, venture philanthropist, and Founder of Walkers Reserve, with WIRRED serving as its non-profit arm for regenerative research, education, and design.

Ian has led the transformation of his family’s former 70-year-old sand quarry into Walkers Reserve, a 300-acre nature reserve, living laboratory, education platform, and ecotourism destination. Through Walkers Reserve and WIRRED, he has helped shape one of the Caribbean’s most compelling models for climate-smart regeneration.

The work demonstrates how degraded land and legacy extractive assets can be transformed into nature-positive platforms for biodiversity restoration, community resilience, regenerative tourism, research, education, and sustainable enterprise.

Ian’s work sits at the intersection of climate adaptation, private capital, land restoration, and community-centred economic development. He has advanced blended business models that connect measurable ecological outcomes with commercial viability, showing how the private sector can contribute meaningfully to resilience in small island states.

In 2014 Ian founded Slow Food Barbados and in 2019 The Local & Co., a farm-to-table restaurant rooted in circular food economy principles and localized food systems. Across his work, he has consistently focused on proving that climate resilience cannot be separated from economic and community resilience.

Ian also serves as Director of the Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute, board advisor to the Barbados Independent Film Festival, and advisor to Regen Network. He is an internationally recognised speaker and mentor to emerging regenerative entrepreneurs and impact investors.

At Climate Smart Summit 2026, Ian brings a practitioner’s perspective on how the Caribbean can convert constraint into competitive advantage by turning degraded land, underused assets, and local knowledge into investable, nature-positive climate solutions.