Bryan Simmons, the vice president of communications for the Arcus Foundation, joins the Mongabay Newscast this week to share the philosophy behind the 25-year-old foundation, which funds grantees that work on LGBTQ rights and great apes and gibbons conservation.
In this conversation with co-host Mike DiGirolamo, Simmons explains the link between economic development and justice for people and how this is correlated with conservation outcomes.
“When people are not able to have their economic needs met, conservation begins to pay the price right away,” says Simmons.
He encourages listeners to review recent reports regarding ape conservation and how this relates to human health, disease, and the ‘one health’ approach to planetary stewardship. Find more at stateoftheapes.com.
Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website.
Arcus is a funder of Mongabay, but it did not initiate this interview nor does it have editorial influence on Mongabay’s coverage.
Image Credit: Young lowland gorilla, Gabon. Photo by Rhett Butler for Mongabay.
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Timestamps
(00:00) Bryan’s journey to the Arcus Foundation
(13:25) How social justice enables conservation
(25:47) Threats to human rights and conservation
(30:09) Concerns in the Congo Basin
(33:26) Hope during a dark period
(37:54) Empathy in apes
This week, Anthony James, host of The RegenNarration Podcast, joins Mongabay’s podcast to share stories of community resilience and land regeneration in the Americas and Australia. James explains how donkeys (seen as invasive pests) are now being managed to benefit the land in Kachana Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
In this episode, James emphasizes the importance of harnessing what’s in front of us, rather than fighting it. Across the many interviews he’s conducted, it’s become clear that this concept is something Aboriginal Traditional Owners are keenly aware of.
“If you’re there, you’re kin. There’s no sense of ‘being greater than,” James says.
Related reading:
Huge deforested areas in the tropics could regenerate naturally, study finds
Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend. You can also subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify. Listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website.
Image Credit: Jim Jim Falls, Kakadu National Park. Image by Parks Australia. Courtesy of the Director of National Parks, Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Timecodes
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(00:00) Why Anthony James started The RegenNarration
(05:32) The story of Kachana Station
(12:24) Turning problems into solutions
(25:26) Community resilience amidst political strife
(36:45) Where's the potential?
(41:29) Credits
General frustration with the result of the most recent UN climate conference (UNFCCC COP29) spurred the former UN climate chief, Christiana Figueres – under whose leadership the Paris Agreement was struck – to co-author a letter to the UN urging an overhaul to the COP process, and calling it “no longer fit for purpose.”
Figueres joins this episode to speak about why the world’s governments seemingly cannot agree to move decisively on climate action, and what can be done about it.
She shares why – despite these frustrations and disappointments – she remains optimistic about the global effort to decarbonize economies and transport systems, citing recent advancements in the deployment of renewable energy and the power of everyday actions:
“I used to think that it was our collective responsibility to guarantee to future generations that they would have a perfect world. And now that I am a recent grandmother, I really look back at that and I go, ‘my God, we cannot guarantee to future generations that they're going to have a perfect world.’ We cannot. So, what can we do? We can do our darndest and we can wake up every morning and make a choice and say ‘where am I going to put my energy today?’” she says.
Figueres is also the co-host of the popular podcast, Outrage + Optimism, which features conversations and analysis about the climate crisis.
Related reading at Mongabay.com:
· COP29 ends in $300 billion deal, widespread dismay — and eyes toward COP30
· Top Mongabay podcast picks for 2024
Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website.
Timecodes
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(00:00) A disappointing COP process
(03:33) Has the Paris Agreement failed?
(08:01) The renewable energy adoption s-curve
(13:34) Electricity generation vs. consumption
(18:55) Decarbonizing without mandates
(23:29) Are we standing still?
(31:16) Courage in choosing optimism
(41:25) Reflections from a Colombian forest
(48:12) Rachel changes her mind