Healthy tropical forests must become locally synonymous with better livelihoods and greater prosperity if the governments of tropical forest regions are to build the policies and programs that are essential to end and eventually reverse deforestation. In this commentary, Executive Director Daniel Nepstad makes the case for building stronger government support to end deforestation in tropical countries. Without this support, it may not be possible to further curb tropical deforestation. This commentary was originally published on Mongabay on March 8, 2018.