This is the first in a series of tropical forest policy commentaries John-O Niles will be writing for Mongabay.com leading up to the December U.N. climate meeting in Copenhagen. John-O is the Director of the Tropical Forest Group.
In late 1991, I had just finished my undergraduate degree in forest economics at the University of Vermont. The Rio Earth Summit was approaching and everyone seemed to be wearing “Save the Rainforest” T-shirts. So, being 22 years old and green in more ways than one, I decided to hitchhike across Africa
