Rhett Butler reflects on success, and friendship with Jane Goodall

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Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler was recently awarded the Henry Shaw Medal by the Missouri Botanical Garden and named to the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders list alongside conservation greats such as David Attenborough. The credit for this success belongs to Mongabay, Butler says on this week's podcast.

"While my name is on the award, it's for Mongabay. All that Mongabay achieves is not necessarily me. I'm the figurehead," Butler says of receiving the Henry Shaw Medal.

Butler also shares his thoughts and reflections on the passing of his longtime friend, and conservation icon, Jane Goodall, through whom he learned to see the value in hope and optimism.

"The biggest thing I took away from my relationship with Jane … is the importance of hope," he says. "She was truly a messenger for hope."

You can read Butler's obituary for Jane Goodall here.

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Image Credit: The last photo taken between Rhett Butler and Jane Goodall, who shared a friendship for nearly 15 years, at the Forbes Sustainability Leadership Summit in New York. Image courtesy of Sofia Negron.

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Timecodes

(00:00) The importance of hope

(08:01) Rhett's awards and Mongabay's impact

(12:39) The role of independent journalism

(24:18) Expanding Mongabay's global reach

(31:44) State of the world's forests