I’ve been involved in the global conservation movement since the early 1990s. For most of that time I specialized in economic and policy approaches to sustaining nature. In 1998 I founded Conservation Strategy Fund, a group that delivers innovative training and research for activists, governments, and development agencies in over 90 countries. This practical applied brand of “conservation economics” won CSF the 2012 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. And I made friends with lots of absolutely amazing people accomplishing great things for forests and other ecosystems throughout the world.

Humans’ relationships with nature are complex and often contradictory. The longer I was in the business the more curiosity I had about the ethics that lead to healthy coexistence between people and ecosystems. Especially when it came to the largest intact forests, which are crucial and irreplaceable and poorly understood in economic thinking. These questions led to a partnership with the late biologist Tom Lovejoy, who never missed an opportunity to explain the importance of conservation at big geographic scales. Our conversations in 2017 and 2018 led to a book, Ever Green.