Wyoming billionaire pledges to protect 30% of the planet by 2030

Hansjörg Wyss leads a conservation effort of epic proportions.

Matt Hickman

With a 8.5 million assist from the Wyss Foundation, the Andes Amazon Fund will disperse funds to a range of local organizations working to protect the forested headwaters of the Amazon River basin in Peru and beyond. (Photo: Jorge Láscar/Flickr)

If you follow global conservation and don’t already know the name Hansjörg Wyss, there’s a good chance you soon will.

Born in Bern, Switzerland, the 83-year-old entrepreneur and businessman first made his fortune in the Belgian steel industry before establishing the U.S. division of Synthes, a multinational medical device manufacturer best known for producing internal screws and plates used to help mend fractured bones. (The company has since been acquired by Johnson & Johnson.) …