If we want to avoid a sixth mass extinction, according to Cyril Kormos, we need to start paying a lot more attention to forests. Primary forests, that is. Cyril is the founder and Executive Director of Wild Heritage, a project of Earth Island Institute, and has served as Vice-Chair for World Heritage on the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas since 2012. He sits on the IUCN Protected Area Steering Committee, chairs the IUCN’s Protected Areas World Heritage Network and serves as the non-profit liaison to the World Heritage Program. What does that all mean? Cyril is one of the world’s most respected experts on biodiversity, with his work informing policy for the world’s oldest environmental body, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. And his research – which incorporates leading science and economics – shows that primary forests are the key to saving biodiversity, addressing climate change and basically sustaining the systems that sustain us.
To explain why primary forests matter and what it’s going to take to save them, Cyril Kormos joined us in conversation by Skype from his home office in California.
What do you think?
- Do you agree that primary forests should be protected?
- Do we have enough information to make informed decisions? Or do we lack the depth and breadth of research needed to know the right answer?
- Should we be skeptical of solutions that, as Cyril said, begin with a chainsaw?
- What’s Cyril’s bias? What might be the bias of someone who advocates for biodiversity solutions that embrace forestry?
- Are pro-forestry solutions simply creative opportunities to balance people and nature, recognizing we can’t be against everything?
- By protecting primary forests, are we addressing the root cause of biodiversity loss, while avoiding other issues like government regulation or environmental taxes?