Broadening ambition of forest policies: the Spears legacy

Tropical forests rose to prominence in international conservation in the late 1970s. Fifty years have now elapsed during which forest conservation has remained a subject of continuous debate and controversy. There have been multiple forest conservation initiatives and a diversity of proposals made to define what human societies require of forests and how to sustain those requirements. The debate about tropical forests has suffered from the phenomenon of issue cycles – compelling ideas that have succeeded one another as the focus of attention – none of which alone would make a significant difference to outcomes on the ground. Some of the issues that received attention and funding appear today quite improbable.
John Spears played a pivotal role in the evolution of international policies and programmes throughout this 50-year period. Spears was committed to a broad and inclusive vision for conserving and sustainably managing forests. Spears had a profound impact by building coalitions and weaving together the multiple conflicting discourses on sustainable forest management. He convened people from widely different interest groups and made valuable contributions in bridging the silos that separated different communities.
Activists and advocates, who often lack the deep subject area competence of Spears, are today having profound influence on forest policies and programmes. An integrated understanding of the social, economic and ecological underpinnings of tropical systems is rare. Better future outcomes require that the pragmatism and on-the-ground experience epitomised by Spears play a greater role in guiding the improvement of global forest governance.