Speakers Michael Jenkins (President and CEO, Forest Trends) and Dr. Alvaro Umaña (Counselor for Central America and Belize, Inter-American Development Bank) provide an overview of ecosystem payment and speak specifically to the success of the ecosystem payments program developed and implemented in Costa Rica.

 Bruce Harris, Wal-Mart's Director of Federal Government Relations for Sustainability, discussed ways in which Wal-Mart's comprehensive sustainability initiatives are not only good for the earth but are also generating enormous savings for the company, which then translate into customer savings and improved affordability of earth-friendly products.

This briefing featured the premiere of a short video, "Wildlife Without Borders: Connecting People and Nature in the Americas." as well as presentations by Secretary Bruce Babbitt (former Governor of Arizona, former Secretary of the Interior, and Chairman of the Board of the World Wildlife Fund), Dr. Thomas Lovejoy (President, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment), and Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (Chair, Insular Affairs, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee).

Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund and Robin O'Malley of the Heinz Center explore the current Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) mandate for greatly increased bio-energy production; technologies, efficiencies, and private sector support to approach this mandate; and potential effects on land, agriculture, forests, water, and food availability.

Dr. Helen Gichohi, President of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), spoke about AWF's African Heartlands Program, through which AWF practices conservation in large landscapes that are both ecologically and economically viable