Unfortunately, in the environment, I don't see as much willingness to invest heavily in R&D as I do in consumer technology. And that's a pity.

There are really two kinds of optimism. There's the complacent, Pollyanna optimism that says "don't worry - everything will be just fine" and that allows one to just lay back and do nothing about the problems around you. Then there's what we call dynamic optimism. That's an optimism based on action.

Whatever my current beliefs are, on any topic, they're all open to being changed by the right facts and the right evidence.

Agriculture is the #1 source of deforestation. By some estimates it accounts for 80% of the forests chopped down in the tropics.

The more widely you can spread this notion of achieving ROI by preserving and improving ecosystems, the better.

If the incentives are aligned right - towards better preservation and restoration of nature and natural resources - then you'll see a tremendous amount of activity in that direction.

TNC was once limited by the resources it could directly marshal to buy land. But teaching people a new idea is incredibly more scalable.