E188 Tom Crowther

For years, the environmental movement told us to be afraid of the future. Tom Crowther thinks that story has run its course.

From discovering 3 trillion trees on Earth to watching his trillion-tree research explode into a global movement, and then become one of the most criticised ideas in environmental science, Tom has seen what happens when a scientific idea escapes the lab. He talks about the backlash, the mistakes, the lessons, and why nature is finally becoming part of the economic and political conversation.

But the most interesting part of Tom’s story isn’t scientific. At 26, he survived a devastating stroke that changed his relationship with his own mind, sent him through two years of depression, and ultimately changed how he thinks about the future. Now, through Restor, he is watching restoration scale through a different kind of feedback loop, one where healthier nature improves people’s livelihoods, which creates more incentive for nature to recover. He says 172 million hectares are already part of that story.