We need more rewilding and connections to nature, says Enrique Ortiz Enrique Ortiz is a Peruvian biologist who has been working in conservation in Latin America since the 1970s. Today he works at the Andes Amazon Fund, a philanthropic initiative that has helped establish 79 protected areas and get 18 Indigenous territories titled. Ortiz says the pandemic has been “terrible and tragic” for both people and the environment, with a rise in poverty, violence against environmental defenders, and environmental crime and degradation. But he also notes surprising resilience where communities and local governments have continued protecting wilderness despite COVID-19. Ortiz spoke about these issues and more during an April 2021 conversation with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.