In this talk, Ethan Tapper, a forester, bestselling author and content creator from Vermont, will draw from his work as a forester and his book How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World to discuss what it means to care for forests and other ecosystems at this moment in time. How do we respond to the harmful legacies of the past? How do we use our species' incredible power to heal rather than to harm? How do we reach toward a better future? In a time in which many believe that “protecting” ecosystems means protecting them from ourselves, Ethan argues that humans must take action to help ecosystems heal and to move into a more abundant future, and that to do so is an act of care and compassion – of love.

Ethan’s message is at once compassionate and pragmatic, clear-eyed and hopeful, sobering and inspiring – a powerful new vision for how we can build a world that works for all of its ecosystems and all of its people.