Ep. 142: Saving Big Forests to Save the Planet

Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk

"How do we make the case for and understand the necessity for intact forest ecosystems in a way that will resonate with people, and in a language that's accessible to the non scientist and the non specialist? People should be concerned about what's happening-- but also marvel at what still exists. We should marvel at what exists as the energy drink of action."

Conservationist John W. Reid joins the podcast with new book in hand, co-written with the late Thomas E. Lovejoy. The book, called Ever Green: Saving Big Forests to Save the Planet, explores the role forests play in our climate. What are some of the issues conservationists face today? How do major naturalistic figures like John Muir figure into today's movements? John also takes the listener on a tour of some of the most hidden indigenous peoples in the Amazon, and their intense relationship to the trees. There are five so-called "mega forests" in the world, and all are at risk. What can humans stand to gain if we put nationalistic enterprises aside and work to cooperate on the preservation of our treasured woodlands? How can an urban dweller in 21st century America become more connected to nature?

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John W. Reid is a conservationist and economist whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, Atlantic, and Scientific American. In 1998 he founded Conservation Strategy Fund, a group that delivers innovative training and analytical collaborations for activists, governments, and development agencies. The organization has worked with the governments of Brazil, Indonesia, Peru, Bolivia, Uganda, Mexico, California, and others; with the World Bank, USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, and UN agencies; and with hundreds of environmental and Indigenous organizations in over 90 countries. This practical applied brand of “conservation economics” won CSF the 2012 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Through it all, John got the greatest satisfaction teaching and mentoring emerging environmental leaders from around the world. It was also clear that economics, while strategically handy, was failing to appropriately value very big forests. It really could only see the value of their parts, often after disassembly. A new logic—or perhaps old wisdom—needed to guide the policies that would save our big places and planet in the process. Puzzling over these questions would eventually draw him into partnership with Tom Lovejoy, and to his current post with Nia Tero, an organization that supports Indigenous guardianship of vital ecosystems. John serves as Senior Economist and leads partnerships with several Indigenous peoples in the Brazil, Peru, and the US.

Thomas E. Lovejoy was a pioneering biologist who led and championed forest conservation efforts for over 50 years. Tom’s first encounter with a large forest was when he arrived at Belem, Brazil, the port city of the Amazon, in June of 1965. The dreams he had of a PhD in East Africa were immediately and permanently eclipsed by the experience of being in the world’s largest tropical forest, which was the size of the contiguous 48 states. It was beyond a biologist’s wildest dreams, vast, brimming with biological diversity (a term yet to be coined) myriad indigenous peoples, and encompassing parts of eight countries. Part of Tom’s role in conservation has been generating new ideas. He was the first to use the term “biological diversity,” in 1980. That year he produced the first projection of global extinctions for the Global 2000 Report to President Carter.