One night as a young ranch hand in West Texas, Carl Ryan stepped outside and watched a meteor shower so spectacular it felt like "the sky was falling." But experiences like this are fading. Since 2011, the sky has brightened on average nearly 10% each year, according to a 2023 study in Science, and we’re losing the ability to see stars in response. Put another way, over the course of a human childhood, a person will lose sight of 60% of the stars they once saw in the sky. But there are efforts underway to preserve the night. Across West Texas, astronomers, ranchers, scientists and communities have come together to create the largest international dark-sky reserve on Earth. https://nature.ly/4hrkLTy
The Nature Conservancy
Non-profit Organizations
Arlington, VA 1,053,935 followers
Conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends.
About us
Air, water, food, shelter, income: nature sustains every aspect of our lives. That's why protecting and conserving nature isn't just a matter of common sense. It's the smartest investment we can make. Since our founding in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has harnessed the power of nature to help solve our planet’s most challenging problems. And while the stakes are high, so is our resolve: to create a world where everyone thrives alongside nature for generations to come. We do this by working hand in hand with communities around the world. By committing to a science-based, non-partisan approach that’s stood the test of time. And by bringing people together, from all walks of life, to find common ground in nature.
- Website
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https://www.nature.org/
External link for The Nature Conservancy
- Industry
- Non-profit Organizations
- Company size
- 5,001-10,000 employees
- Headquarters
- Arlington, VA
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1951
- Specialties
- environment, natural resources, biodiversity, conservation, sustainability, NGO, corporate, social responsibility, non-profit, and nature
Locations
Employees at The Nature Conservancy
Updates
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Seventy-five years ago, a small group of scientists decided that studying nature wasn't enough—they wanted to save it. What began with a bold effort to protect a 60-acre forest at Mianus Gorge in New York grew into a global conservation organization working in all 50 U.S. states and 83 countries and territories. In this special 75th anniversary story, The Nature Conservancy CEO Jennifer Morris reflects on the people, partnerships and places that have shaped TNC's journey—from local conservation action to protecting more than 125 million acres of land and 2.3 billion acres of ocean. It's a reminder that conservation has always been about more than protecting places. It's about bringing people together around a shared belief: that extraordinary change is possible when communities act for the nature they love. 🔗 Read the story in the latest issue of Nature Conservancy magazine: https://nature.ly/44YcG1q
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Back-to-school season is here, and with it comes a fresh opportunity to spark curiosity about nature. 🔎🌱 Whether you’re a teacher planning engaging classroom lessons, a parent looking for meaningful after-school enrichment, or a family hoping to spend more time exploring the outdoors together, Nature Lab can help. Using our library of free resources, you can connect kids with nature by exploring topics like biodiversity, wildlife, climate, water and forests. Each resource is designed to build environmental literacy and encourage real-world action. As we head into a new school year, let’s help the next generation discover that some of the best classrooms don’t always have four walls. Explore the full library of free resources: https://nature.ly/4yVXAqN
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We’re watching coral losses from bleaching happen in real time. For researchers—many of whom have devoted their entire careers to saving this ecosystem—it’s devastating to see. Petra MacGowan grew up visiting some of the most pristine coral reefs in the world. As a child, she would accompany her father, a high school marine science teacher, on trips to reefs in Hawai‘i, Florida and Australia. “I saw the Great Barrier Reef as, like, an eight-year-old,” she says. “That was a core memory for me, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef with my dad.” Years later, MacGowan, who is now the director of coral reef partnerships for The Nature Conservancy, took her own daughter to the Great Barrier Reef. But it had bleached not long before and was no longer the vibrant ecosystem she recalled from childhood. “That was heartbreaking,” she says. Recently, however, scientists have made a hopeful discovery: Some coral reefs seem to fare better than others during marine heat waves. They recover more quickly. Mortality rates are lower. They seem to be more thermally tolerant. If protected, these resilient reefs have a greater chance of surviving in a warming ocean and serving as the “mother reefs” for future coral colonies. It’s news like this that gives us hope that the world’s reefs still have a fighting chance. https://nature.ly/4feSzlp
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Nature is brilliant at adapting to change. But nature can’t keep up with the accelerating pace of climate change. Species are going extinct and ecosystems are off-balance. If we work quickly and decisively to confront the root causes, if we work with nature - not against it - we give our planet a chance to bounce back. https://nature.ly/4ubT6u3
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The world needs to eat – but at what cost to the environment? Nature supports every industry in the world, and when nature is integrated into the business model, these industries can begin to fortify habitats, species and climate instead of degrading them. The shrimp aquaculture sector is just one example. 🦐 Traditional shrimp aquaculture (farm-raised) is a $40 billion industry 🌏 It supplies nearly 55% of the world’s shrimp market Consumption of shrimp is rising and shrimp aquaculture has increased to meet this demand, often with adverse consequences for coastlines and people – pollution, destruction of habitats, outbreaks of disease. We have teamed up with Conservation International to launch the Blue Carbon Plus (BC+) Mangrove Positive Shrimp Big Bet, aiming to reverse this cycle. “We need aquaculture for food security, whether we like it or not. The world needs to eat. So we need to work with companies that have the vision to become sustainable.” Ahmad Baihaki, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara We are providing a pathway to scale sustainable shrimp aquaculture, funding businesses that economically benefit local communities while protecting mangroves and the services they provide. When produced responsibly, sustainable shrimp aquaculture creates lasting benefits instead of lasting consequences for nature and people. Find out more here: https://nature.ly/4wo8009 Photos courtesy of Connor Nickerson, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara and Konservasi Indonesia
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Palmyra is a conservation innovation hub and a hope spot. Located far out in the Pacific, a thousand miles from the nearest city in Hawaiʻi, this amazing coral atoll is one of the few island and marine environments that is both spectacularly intact and also relatively accessible with facilities to support scientific research. It teaches us how to better protect islands, reefs and oceans around the world and it inspires us about the true power of nature. While Palmyra doesn't tell us coral reefs are safe from climate change, it does show us that local actions still matter. By studying resilient reefs, scientists like Joseph Pollock, Ph.D. are learning lessons that could help reefs around the world. 🪸 The Nature Conservancy in Hawai'i and Palmyra The Nature Conservancy Science
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Climate-smart forestry means caring for forests in a way that helps them remain healthy and resilient in a changing climate. But why do we need thriving forests? 🐻 They provide habitat for 80% of the planet’s land-dwelling species. 🌍 More than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. 🌲 Climate-smart forestry practices around the world could mitigate 490 megatonnes of CO2e annually! Swipe through to learn more about how TNC is supporting climate-smart forestry.
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Day Zero: a period of time when taps were expected to run dry and the city would effectively run out of water. This was the terrifying reality Cape Town faced in 2018 at the height of a multi-year drought. The city came dangerously close to shutting off water to millions of residents. In response, The Nature Conservancy in Africa and its partners launched the Greater Cape Town Water Fund—an ambitious effort to improve water security by removing thirsty invasive trees from the region's watersheds. This nature-based approach proved that investing in healthy ecosystems isn't just good for biodiversity and water supplies—it also makes economic sense. In fact, the restoration work was estimated to recover the equivalent of two months of Cape Town's annual water supply at just one-tenth the cost of alternatives like desalination plants or new groundwater development. Eight years later, the new Cape Water Performance-Based Bond (valued at roughly USD150M) is helping take the early success of the water fund to the next level. The first financial instrument of its kind in South Africa, it is designed to provide the long-term financing needed to maintain and expand watershed restoration in Cape Town and attract new sources of capital to nature-based solutions. But financing is only part of the story. Behind every liter of water returned to Cape Town's reservoirs is years of hands-on restoration work across the region's mountains and catchments. Take a behind-the-scenes journey with TNC and partners as we continue to innovate and test new approaches—including the strategic use of fire—to increase the impact of the Greater Cape Town Water Fund: https://nature.ly/4baTBMZ 📸: Roshni Lodhia
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Mangroves are one of our world's guardians. They protect the coasts, filter water, sequester carbon, provide a home for wildlife and are a source of livelihood for coastal communities worldwide. But sometimes, even guardians need protecting. These critical systems have been threatened for decades. But there’s room for hope. Through global partnerships, mangroves are being restored across their endemic lands. To keep this momentum going, it's essential that governments, scientists, project planners, investors and local communities have the right resources. Here are a few we're excited about: 🌿 Global Mangrove Watch 4.1 helps partners take a more localized approach to mangrove forest management. To learn more, join us on Monday at 9am ET for our launch webinar! https://nature.ly/4x4bjdz 🌿 Coming soon! This September, our new State of the World's Mangroves will show how far we've come. It'll include a brand-new map from Global Mangrove Watch, a progress update and stories from partners across 45 countries. 🌿 The 2nd edition of the High-Quality Blue Carbon Practitioner's Guide includes links to 400+ project development resources that will help practitioners better monitor and restore mangrove ecosystems. https://nature.ly/4weeWNP 🌿 The Coastal Resilience Asset Methodology is a first-of-its-kind protocol that quantifies, in U.S. dollars, the flood-protection value that mangroves and tidal marshes deliver to coastal property and communities. https://nature.ly/4pBOmfe 🌿 To see effective mangrove management in action, check out this story about the women behind Kenya's mangrove restoration: https://nature.ly/4bZTR1w As we celebrate #WorldMangroveDay, we're so thankful for all the people, organizations and communities who are working locally to protect and restore the world's mangroves. 💚 Global Mangrove Alliance | Conservation International | Wetlands International
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