Amazon rainforest explorer and conservationist Paul Rosolie was welcomed to a recent Templeton World Charity Foundation x POSTHOC Salon. Rosolie is the wildlife director of Jungle Keepers, an organization that protects some of the world's most crucial rainforest habitats, and also runs a conservation project called Tamandua Expeditions that uses tourism to support rainforest conservation. For the past 16 years, he has specialized in threatened ecosystems and species in countries like Indonesia, Brazil, India, and Peru.
"The Amazon rainforest is one of the biggest physical features on our planet, the most important terrestrial habitat we have. There are more species of plants and animals here than anywhere else on Earth. There is so much life, so much diverse intelligence," says Rosalie. "Corporations now want to help to offset the damage that they're doing. This is actually a problem that we can fix. Whether it's being a responsible consumer, whether it's electing people that actually care about the environment, and whether you live in New York or Tokyo, we depend on the climate regulating factors of the Amazon to keep our world livable, sustainable, and clean."
Rosolie has now spent nearly half of his life traveling to the Madre de Dios region of the Amazon each year. To date, Jungle Keepers is protecting 50,000 acres of Amazon rainforest, but is working tirelessly to expand the scope of their program to protect 250,000 key acres. The western Amazon is a crucial biome that is under extreme threat from logging interests. The area is home to irreplaceable flora and fauna, medicines yet to be discovered, countless species of animals, and some as-yet uncontacted indigenous tribes.
During the salon interview hosted by POSTHOC fonder Susan MacTavish Best, Rosalie recalled cutting a sprawling line of people waiting to meet the beloved primatologist-anthropologist, and Templeton Prize Laureate, Jane Goodall. He wanted to give her the first chapter of his book on Amazonian wildlife, Mother Of God. Goodall eventually asked for a meeting with him and agreed to write the forward for it, after thoroughly vetting him to be sure of his dedication, of course. "She basically said [by writing the forward] 'I've given you something that's going to open massive doors for you and I need to know what your plan is to protect how much of this region.' She's looking at the fight to save this planet as the defining issue of our time, that never in human history has there ever been something that has united the entire planet because every single one of us depends on it."
Listen to the full conversation between Paul Rosalie and Susan MacTavish Best on the POSTHOC podcast here.
POSTHOC Salons hosted by Susan MacTavish Best celebrate the power of gathering by bringing people together to share ideas, stimulate conversations, spark connections, and build community. The salon series POSTHOC hosts with support from the Templeton World Charity Foundation asks thought-leading experts what it means to flourish.
