Byron Swift

Biography

BYRON SWIFT has dedicated the majority of his career over the past 30 years to helping establish and support tropical forest conservation programs throughout Latin America. He has worked with numerous partner groups in over 15 countries to build capacity in the areas of tropical forest and biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, pollution prevention, sustainable development, and environmental policy. He has also published widely on issues involving biodiversity, natural resources management, climate change, and industrial pollution. He was formerly the director of the Energy and Innovation Center at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., head of the United States office of IUCN - the World Conservation Union, and founder of World Parks Endowment (now Rainforest Trust).

Byron is the president of Nature and Culture International (NCI), a conservation organization combating the rapid deforestation of tropical forests by protecting some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems in concert with local people in Latin America. As a trusted partner of local communities and governments, NCI is building capacity for tropical forest conservation throughout the Andes and Amazon, catalyzing the creation of protected areas and supporting innovative programs on ecosystem service payments, watershed protection, and sustainable production. NCI's goal is to protect 20 million acres by 2020, with 13.8 million acres protected to date.

Learn more about Nature and Culture International at www.NatureAndCulture.org, and visit NCI's Skoll profile here: http://skollworldforum.org/organization/nature-and-culture-international/