WASHINGTON (May 3, 2017) – The following statement was released by John Calvelli, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Executive Vice President of Public Affairs:

“WCS applauds the Senate introduction of legislation to reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), ensuring the continuance of a highly successful and cost-effective mechanism to conserve some of the world’s most biodiverse places. By conducting the “debt-for-nature swaps” made possible by TFCA, U.S. economic and national security interests are served through the encouragement of good governance and stable democracy in the developing world while sustainably managing important ecosystems.

“I thank Sen. Portman, along with Sens. Burr, Whitehouse, Udall and Schatz, for their leadership and commitment to saving wildlife and wild places by supporting the TFCA.”