Changemaker
Laurie A. Wayburn
TL;DR
Laurie A. Wayburn co-founded Pacific Forest Trust and runs it, building the financial case for private landowners to keep a forest standing as a forest.
Laurie A. Wayburn is the president and co-founder of Pacific Forest Trust. Her own organization describes her work as creating and implementing a new way of valuing and managing forests as forests, moving away from relying on timber products to pay the bills and toward paying for what forests give us in water, climate, wildlife and renewal. A graduate of Harvard College, she worked for over a decade with the United Nations Environment Program and with the Ecological Sciences Division of UNESCO on sustainable development. Giants Rising describes her as pioneering new economic models for forest conservation.
Laurie A. Wayburn co-founded Pacific Forest Trust and is its president, working to shift forest economics away from timber products and toward water, climate, wildlife and renewal.
Why OGSP Recommends It
We recommend Laurie Wayburn’s story because she is changing how forests are valued. Through Pacific Forest Trust, she works to move forest economics beyond timber by recognizing the value of clean water, climate protection, wildlife habitat and forest renewal. The organization reports that it has conserved more than 270,000 acres. Her earlier work with the United Nations Environment Program and UNESCO also gives her decades of experience connecting forest conservation with public policy.
Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- She co-founded Pacific Forest Trust and is its president.
- Her stated aim is shifting forest economics away from timber products and toward paying for water, climate, wildlife and renewal.
- Before this she spent over a decade with the United Nations Environment Program and with UNESCO’s Ecological Sciences Division.
- Pacific Forest Trust reports more than 270,000 acres conserved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Laurie A. Wayburn?
The co-founder and president of Pacific Forest Trust, a conservation organization that works with private forest owners across America.
What is Laurie A. Wayburn known for?
Building economic models that reward private forest owners for conserving their land and practising sustainable forestry. Giants Rising describes her as pioneering new economic models for forest conservation.
What did Laurie A. Wayburn do before Pacific Forest Trust?
She is a graduate of Harvard College and worked for over a decade with the United Nations Environment Program and with the Ecological Sciences Division of UNESCO on sustainable development.
What does Pacific Forest Trust do?
It works with private landowners and communities to keep forests standing and sustainably managed, and reports more than 270,000 acres conserved.