Our Mission, Strategy and Values

Throughout our history, The Nature Conservancy has been known for our unique and highly successful approach to land conservation. We initially used land acquisition to "preserve wild nature," the organization's statement of purpose in the 1950s and 1960s. But as The Nature Conservancy expanded over the years and as increasing threats to natural lands created even more demand for action, the organization tightened its focus and expanded the array of tools it uses to achieve lasting conservation results.

Today, The Nature Conservancy is widely regarded and respected as an effective conservation organization, with conservation projects in all 50 states in the United States and in 26 other countries. We are known for our focused mission; our strategic framework to achieve that mission, Conservation by Design; and the unique set of values that guides how we pursue our work.

Our Mission

The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. We are dedicated to preserving biological diversity, and, as described below, our values compel us to find ways to ensure that human activities can be conducted harmoniously with the preservation of natural diversity. We aspire to the vision articulated so wisely more than 50 years ago by Aldo Leopold in his book, A Sand County Almanac: conservation is a state of harmony between man and nature.

Our Strategy

Our strategic framework for pursuing our mission is called Conservation by Design. It has two key components:

Through a rigorous, science-based approach, we identify the lands and waters that represent the biodiversity of a given ecoregion. (An ecoregion is a large geographic area defined by natural features such as vegetation and geology; the Sonoran Desert is an example of an ecoregion.) Six years ago, we began an effort to develop an assessment of the places most critical for the long-term protection of ecosystems, plants and wildlife within and across the ecoregions of the Western Hemisphere, Asia and the Pacific. All together, they create a conservation blueprint.
Conservation by Design describes a four-step, disciplined process that enables us to develop the appropriate mix of actions to abate threats in a given place and to secure tangible, lasting conservation results. Different places require different strategies; we tailor our tools and strategies to local circumstances. Given the wide variety of threats we encounter, we must be innovative in developing flexible, uniquely tailored action plans.

Conservation by Design ensures that we focus on the right places and take the right action to achieve conservation results. The efficacy of this approach is increasingly recognized and lauded by others who are eager to use a science-based, pragmatic strategy for fulfilling their own commitments to protecting biodiversity.

The Doris Duke Foundation, for example, has said:

Because the problem of biodiversity loss dwarfs our current resources to combat it, funders and conservationists alike must make hard choices about where and how to make our stand. To achieve deep and durable success, we will need great vision and discipline, the ability to marry strategy with the right opportunity and a commitment to learn from our failures, instead of simply trumpeting our successes. Conservation by Design offers a thoughtful and well-conceptualized framework to achieve these goals.

As a philanthropic investor, we recognize the power of such a framework to help us identify the best and highest use of our funds. We have increasingly incorporated the key principles underlying Conservation by Design into both the selection of the sites in our place-based portfolio, and into how we are now funding key strategies in those sites. We believe the framework represents a critical contribution to the field of biodiversity conservation.

Our Values

We hold ourselves to high standards, staff and trustees alike. We freely adopted these values to guide our work, for they offer ideals to which we aspire in fulfilling our mission:

Integrity Beyond Reproach: We hold paramount the trust and responsibilities placed in us by our donors, members, colleagues, partners and the public.
Continuity of Purpose: We look to our mission to provide focus and guidance for everything we do.
Commitment to People: We respect the needs of local communities by developing ways to conserve biological diversity while enabling them to live productively and sustainably. We value the active involvement of individuals from diverse backgrounds and beliefs in conservation efforts.
Effective Partnerships: We are committed to forging public and private partnerships that combine diverse strengths, skills and resources.
Innovation and Excellence: We are strategically entrepreneurial in the pursuit of excellence, encouraging original thought and its application, and willing to take risks based on sound business judgment.
One Conservancy: We act as "One Conservancy," with each program assisting other programs in reaching their full potential, thereby ensuring the success of the overall organization.
Commitment to the Future: We commit ourselves, individually and collectively, to leaving future generations a biologically rich world.