#087 COVID & the Wolf
Willem Ferwerda on making landscape restoration & Spirit the heart of economy
Willem Ferwerda has an extraordinary background as an ecologist and international policy leader. But a little over a decade ago, after backing over 1,000 conservation projects, he decided to face down the fact that they weren’t making a dent in our slide into mass extinction and ecosystem collapse. He turned towards business and economics, and has since dedicated himself to building practical bridges between ecology and economy.
Since founding Commonland in 2013, his team has been applying its holistic ‘4 Returns’ framework to restoring landscapes at scale globally, across a range of ecosystems, and with brilliant success (including in my home state of Western Australia). Yet, the overall picture continues to worsen. So with 8 years of learning in hand, they’re gearing up a notch, and inviting us to join them, as a key element of the newly launched UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Willem Ferwerda in the Costa Rican forest in 1992 (supplied).
“That’s how you build that bridge. And at a certain moment, you run into a more profound conversation. About the quality of life, about his or her kids, and about what his or her frustrations are in this society - and whether he can play a role in changing that. That’s where you want to go. That’s not an easy path, I know. It takes time. But the momentum is growing. ”
Willem and I first met on Ballardong country in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, at Oral McGuire’s place. It was a special few days spent with the Indigenous-led WA collaboration they’ve engaged with, that has been pivotal to Commonland’s evolution in recent years. We had a couple of open, warm and penetrating conversations about the state of things, and our respective observations about what is possible together. Willem says he’s been watching ideas and talk of natural solutions move from marginal to mainstream over 30 years - that a transformation is afoot - across business, finance and economics, and above all in people’s search for meaning, purpose and spirit.
More on Willem: Willem is the CEO of Commonland, an Executive Fellow Business & Ecosystems at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus Uni, and Chair Thematic Group Business and Ecosystem Management at the IUCN CEM.
This conversation was recorded online on Tuesday 29 June 2021, with Willem speaking from home in the Netherlands.
Pics below: supplied. Click on the photos for full view, and hover over the image for descriptions where they’ve been added.
Get more:
Willem’s personal post that prompted this conversation, on our path towards restoring landscapes and a regenerative economy.
The footage of the wolves returning to the Netherlands, featured in the post above.
The Commonland 4 Returns Framework report launched with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration last month.
The launch event in full, featuring Oral McGuire with the closing words, and a series of short clips of landscape restoration from around the world: ‘A common language to accelerate landscape restoration’.
Willem’s brief personal video explanation of the 4 Returns Framework for that event.
4returns.earth, the 4 Returns online community platform.
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Willem also recommended the new film Breaking Boundaries, featuring David Attenborough and Johan Rockstrom. Here’s the trailer.
Green Gold, a documentary by John D Liu on the extraordinary story of the Loess Plateau in China.
Here’s the 5 minute teaser, also featuring Willem.
And Aluna, a movie on indigenous wisdom from the Kogi Indians in Colombia.
And you can listen to other episodes featuring brilliant restoration efforts at scale, including the Haggerty’s, mentioned in our conversation (ep 68).
Music:
Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.