Top 10 Success Stories from The Nature Conservancy 2007

The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive, worldwide. In 2007, the question isn’t so much what did TNC do but what didn’t they do because their efforts to protect the environment were everywhere in 2007 - from Africa to the Pacific Ocean to the Canadian Rockies. Here’s the top success stories from TNC this past year…

Costa Rica: A Landmark Debt-for-Nature Swap
In October, the Conservancy brokered the largest debt-for-nature swap in history — a deal that will secure long-term, science-based conservation for Costa Rica’s tropical forests.

Canada: Spirit of the Great Bear Rainforest
The Conservancy and partners completed financing in February to help protect more than 21 million acres of the Great Bear Rainforest, the largest remaining stretch of temperate rainforest on Earth.

New York: Saving the Heart of the Adirondacks
The Conservancy purchased more than 161,000 acres of prime forest in New York State’s Adirondack Park in June, saving critical ecosystems from development and fragmentation.

Climate Change: Making the Link to Deforestation
How can the world address deforestation — the largest overlooked contributor to climate change? In December, the Conservancy pledged $5 million to a World Bank effort that gives developing countries incentives to maintain their tropical forests.

China: Its First National Park
The Conservancy helped China achieve a conservation landmark this summer: the establishment of that country’s first national park, which will also serve as a model for a new Chinese national park system.

Africa: New Program Takes Off
The Nature Conservancy in Africa made great strides in 2007 toward creating a new national park in Namibia, conserving the great Zambezi River and protecting the lush tropical forests of East Africa’s Rift Valley.

California: Santa Cruz Island Success
Nearly 30 years of restoration efforts led by the Conservancy on Santa Cruz Island are finally paying off — with the return of oak seedlings, rare endemic plants, island foxes and bald eagles, who are successfully hatching young for the first time in a half-century.

Papua New Guinea: Protecting Marine Life and Human Needs
The Conservancy designed a marine protected area in Kimbe Bay that is one of the first in the world to incorporate both human needs and principles of coral reef resilience to withstand impacts from climate change.

Grasslands: Conservancy Moves Into Argentina and Mongolia
As part of a goal to conserve at least 10 percent of temperate grasslands worldwide, the Conservancy began to lay the foundation for grassland conservation in Argentina and Mongolia.

Tennessee: A Big Deal to Connect the Cumberlands
The Nature Conservancy and the state of Tennessee have completed the largest conservation transaction in the state since the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1930s — protection of nearly 130,000 acres of majestic hardwood forests, mountains and streams on the Cumberland Plateau.

Wow! Thanks to everyone at The Nature Conservancy and all those who supported their work for making these success stories possible this year!

Via TNC