Renowned grasslands ecologist william bond dies, leaving legacy of challenging “trees fix everything” conservation myth

The environmental conservation world has lost one of its most important voices challenging the popular “plant more trees” approach to climate solutions. William Bond, a pioneering grasslands researcher, dedicated his career to proving that many of the world’s open landscapes aren’t degraded forests waiting to be restored—they’re ancient, thriving ecosystems in their own right.

Bond’s research countered one of the most widely accepted ideas in modern environmental policy: that trees serve as a universal remedy for climate change and biodiversity loss. While international agencies, governments, and corporations embraced large-scale tree planting as a simple, visible solution, Bond’s scientific work revealed a more complex reality. He demonstrated that vast grasslands and savannas across the globe represent ancient ecosystems shaped by fire, grazing animals, and millennia of natural processes—not failed forests needing rehabilitation.

The South African ecologist argued that treating these “sunlit systems” as empty spaces awaiting trees could actually destroy the very ecosystems conservationists aimed to protect. His research showed that grasslands and savannas operate under their own ecological rules, supporting unique assemblages of plants and animals adapted to open environments. These landscapes, maintained by fundamental processes like rainfall patterns and soil composition, represent legitimate ecological outcomes rather than transitional stages toward forest development.

Bond’s work provided crucial scientific backing for a more nuanced approach to conservation—one that recognizes context matters deeply in environmental restoration. His legacy reminds us that effective conservation requires understanding each ecosystem’s unique history and ecological processes rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions, no matter how appealing they may seem.