Article by Cornell Lab
A conversation between Ian Owens, executive director of the Cornell Lab; Jeremy Radachowsky, Director of the Mesoamerican Regional Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society; and Gabriela Ponce, Guatemala country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society. They spoke in May 2026, on the eve of Global Big Day, in the Puerto Arturo wildlife refuge in the Guatemalan jungle. It has been edited for clarity.
Ian: About two years ago somebody asked us how we make a difference in terms of on-the-ground conservation. Being academics, we drew a diagram [laughter]. We discovered one of the most powerful ways to make a difference is through partners, and we realized we need to know more about what our partners need. So we started trying to listen better.
Jeremy: I feel like our partnership was sort of inevitable. What excites me is that together we can reach a lot more people on both sides of the equation, North America and Mesoamerica.
Gaby: For me, I love that the Cornell Lab isn’t interested in science just for academic reasons. You’re interested in actually solving problems, problems that affect our region of Mesoamerica. Having a partner in the field and complementing our actions to have a greater impact—that’s not always the way with scientists and science organizations. That’s the difference for me. Because otherwise, why are you doing science? Just to be famous? [Ian and Jeremy laugh]
Ian: What I keep coming back to is that the relationship between the Maya forest and North America’s forests isn’t hypothetical. It’s not that they contain the same species of birds; they contain the same individuals. That bird you’re seeing in North America was in one of these forests just a few months ago. It’s a very, very direct relationship.
Jeremy: That’s exactly why we’ve been in the Selva Maya for the past 30 years. Out of the Five Great Forests, the two northern forests are the ones under greatest threat: the Selva Maya and the Moskitia. We want to help where we’re actually needed, where we can make a difference.
Ian: Coming here has highlighted to me how hard it is to rebuild forests and the relationship between people and forests, and how quickly that can be lost. You can see how much effort it is just to rebuild the Ruta Carmelita corridor, and yet a few sticks on fire and a few bad people can flip all that around in a single season.
Jeremy: Fire is asymmetrical—it’s easy to start a fire, it’s so easy to do damage. Right now, losing the Selva Maya is a real possibility. If there’s not a concerted effort to save this forest, it will be lost. For birds, it’s more than clear. Forty species at least are highly dependent on Mesoamerica’s forests. So if we lose these forests, we lose North America’s birds. And then there are cascading impacts we don’t yet understand.
Gaby: We’ve seen that trend in the past, and it could come back. That’s why we need to secure what we can now. It takes government, communities, and organizations coming together.
Jeremy: On the flip side, change is also asymmetrical. You push and you push, but suddenly the right circumstances emerge and you find your way through. And sometimes that creates a qualitative change, and you find yourself on the other side of something you didn’t even know was possible. I feel like we’re on the cusp of that right now; you can feel the possibility of a breakthrough.
With reforestation, we have a few demonstration sites. Things are actually working. Community members are satisfied, their lives are actually better, the incentives are flipped around in their favor, and the institutions are recognizing that. What we’re doing in the Selva Maya can hopefully set precedent and be replicated in the next forest, the Moskitia in Honduras. The Hondurans are very interested in what’s happening here, and I think a lot of the lessons learned are translatable.
Ian: The difference with working with you all is that you’re strongly rooted in science. You’re trying to make fact-based, evidence-based decisions. So when someone like us comes along and tries to provide information, you immediately start using it. And you tell us what’s useful about it and what isn’t.
One of the most powerful ways to make a difference is through partners…we need to know more about what our partners need.
- Ian Owens
Gaby: My greatest hope is that all of us—government, communities, NGOs, scientists—can keep working together. It’s not easy to have all these people together—these are really complex relationships. It’s important to stick together in the good times, but it’s even more important in the bad times. When you have to go to the person and say, We need something to change. To have that kind of platform, even when it’s difficult, and to be able to listen to the communities, that’s what will bring success.
Ian: The relationship with WCS points the way in how the Lab wants to work in the future: to work with an organization who’s working on the forefront of conservation. WCS often looks for situations that are particularly challenging. There are all these places that would be easier. But no, let’s find the hardest place that needs the most help and be right at the forefront. For an organization, that must be an extremely challenging mindset.
But for us, that’s the sort of organization we want to work with. We respond well when someone says, I don’t think that’s possible. To make Merlin or BirdCast, for example, our teams respond well to that. To see a group doing that on the ground—here and in the Congo and in places where the game will either be won or lost in the next few decades—it’s really impressive, and more so each time.
English version by Cornell Lab