AN AVID BIRD WATCHER , MARK WAS THRILLED TO SEE THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPOON-BILLED SANDPIPER WHILE VISITING OUR PAK THALE PROJECT IN THAILAND .
A Passion for Positive Change
The Legacy of Mark Gruin Lives On
Contrary to the songs and sayings that insist we don ’ t know what we ’ ve got ‘ til it ’ s gone , sometimes we know exactly what we have . And when that irreplaceable something — or that someone — is gone , we deeply feel what we have lost .
Such is the case with the universally loved , brilliant and funny Mark Gruin , who changed the course of conservation at Rainforest Trust and around the world . Our Vice President of Strategic Initiatives , Mark passed away in August of this year , and his loss is deeply felt here and far afield , where some of the Earth ’ s rarest species and extraordinary landscapes have benefited from his unwavering dedication .
A natural collaborator and mentor , Mark ’ s work with numerous partners around the world led to the protection of over 5 % of Belize ’ s land area in the second largest remaining tropical forest in the Americas outside the Amazon . He stewarded Rainforest Trust ’ s largest-ever project at the time , the 2020 purchase of a vast and critically important 260,000-acre swath of Belize ’ s Maya Forest for jaguars , monkeys , rare birds and river turtles , working with The Nature Conservancy . He also guided the protection of another 29,934 acres in the Maya Forest with Re : wild .
Mark launched the Rainforest Trust Fellows and Guardians initiative in 2018 , bringing together his love of working with our partners with his passion for building capacity at both the institutional and individual level . He gave freely of his time to mentor conservationists around the world . His deep care for people and organizations led him to conceive of Rainforest Trust ’ s COVID-19 Emergency Fund to support our partners who were struggling from the loss of ecotourism .
Mark ’ s responsibilities at Rainforest Trust were many and varied over his 14-year on-and-off career with us , including the vital role of Acting CEO during 2019-2020 . Most recently , he headed up new strategic initiatives around the globe . In 2021 , Rainforest Trust pledged $ 500 million to protect at least 30 % of the planet ’ s land and ocean by 2030 , and we were proud to be the first philanthropic organization to make this commitment publicly . None of this would have been possible without Mark ’ s elegant and effective diplomacy on this project , including his work urging Madagascar to join the countries supporting 30x30 — which they did .
Mark deeply embraced his role in honoring and protecting the species of the world that could easily be lost forever . He recognized that this opportunity to save Earth ’ s biodiversity is finite . It must be embraced now .
All of us at Rainforest Trust are committed to building on Mark ‘ s legacy through our work with Indigenous Peoples and local communities , governments , other organizations , and you , to protect the diversity of life so important to us all .
Read more about Mark ’ s tremendous contributions to Rainforest Trust and to global conservation by visiting a special section of our website , Remembering Mark Gruin , in memory of our dear friend Mark .
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