Environmentalism is quickly changing from an indulgence to a necessity, driven largely by a broad acknowledgement that climate change affects everyone, not just those who care about rare owls. It’s urgent that environmentalism succeed and to succeed the movement has to embrace its sometimes anathema: economics. In this talk, John Reid will show how this is true of one of the most important global environmental challenges, conserving tropical rainforests. He’ll also share stories from 18 years of conservation work, mostly in the Earth’s tropical belt. 

When tropical forests make it into the news at all, the news is usually bad. We’re told of jungles the size of small European countries going up in smoke. Perpetrators are shadowy figures, or poor people who don’t know any better than to incinerate the “lungs of the planet.” It can be tempting not to care. After all, it seems like an intractable problem taking place very far away. But this is a problem worth solving. There’s more biological diversity and stored carbon in tropical forest than anyplace else on Earth. Tropical deforestation accounts for around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it impossible to stabilize our climate without protecting forests. The question is how to solve it? The loss of tropical forest – and most other ecosystems – is an economic problem, and to reverse it will require a change in the economics of deforestation. And the news is far from all bad on that front. There are promising developments in the tropics, the US Congress and international negotiations on climate change. 

John Reid has worked in conservation since 1991, promoting the use of economics to address conservation challenges. He has pursued that goal through an innovative training program and practical, policy-relevant analyses on a number of themes in the Amazon, Central America and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. These include energy and transportation infrastructure, logging, ranching, environmental valuation and agriculture, among others. John founded Conservation Strategy Fund in 1998 after positions with Resources for the Future, Conservation International and Pacific Forest Trust. He designed CSF as an independent, service-oriented and technical organization with the aim of spreading economics skills among conservation professionals. The organization has evolved into an international team of 12 people, 12 university fellows and instructors and a network of over 800 training graduates.

The WACSC Annual Picnic will again be held in the Lower Jack Rabbit Picnic Area of Spring Lake Park on Friday, Aug. 21, beginning with a social hour at 5:15 (bring your own favorite beverage).  Dinner will be served at 6 p.m.   

Dinner will be catered by Oakmont Market:

• BBQ Chicken and BBQ Ribs  (Vegetarian entree on request)
• Oakmont Potato Salad
• Green Salad and Fresh Fruit Salad
• David's Baked Beans
• French Rolls and Butter
• Dessert
• Iced Tea and Water

There will also be a book sale, with all proceeds benefit the WACSC.  Please bring books you can donate.

Directions: Take Hoen Avenue approach off Summerfield Road. Follow
directions on Hoen to Spring Lake Park. You will come to a booth at
the entrance. There is a parking fee. From the fee booth, go to the
left until you come to the Lower Jack Rabbit Picnic Area.