|
|||
|
|
||
|
“We always have relied on being a familiar face that brings together the right people, at the right time and place, to advance our common objectives.”— Stephanie Meeks
|
Looking back at the early years of The Nature Conservancy, it is easy to focus exclusively on the land acquisition that we championed as a conservation strategy. If people knew us at all back then, they thought of us as “the group that buys land.” But underlying that early institutional persona was the beginning of an attribute that I believe is the key to our success—then, now and in the future. That attribute is a knack for cultivating productive relationships with the range of people and institutions needed to find solutions and advance change.
More often than not, making those initial land purchases in the 1950s and ’60s involved much more than responding to a realtor’s for-sale sign. It usually meant knowing local community leaders and having our finger on the pulse of community interests and relevant government action. We always have relied on being a familiar face that brings together the right people, at the right time and place, to advance our common objectives.
As The Nature Conservancy grew, we built volunteer boards in each of the 50 United States. These 1,500 trustees are leaders from all sectors of society. Through these trustees and the other leaders they access, we build valuable partnerships, influence legislation relevant to conservation and raise the significant funds necessary to do our work. Being well-connected has enabled us to create powerful coalitions and to act swiftly when conservation opportunities arise.
More recently, we have applied the trustee model internationally. Our Asia-Pacific Council, for instance, is one such application that is yielding impressive results. Council members are opening doors for us to shape policy, help foster philanthropic traditions and identify opportunities to advance conservation in the region on an unprecedented scale.
One Asia-Pacific Council member, Shirley Young, is also a member of our board of directors, Shirley’s experience working in her native China has been crucial to The Nature Conservancy’s presence at the Beijing Olympics—an opportunity to reach millions of people and encourage a conservation ethic within this emerging world power.
As we pursue our ambitious goal to double the amount of global lands and waters in conserved status over the next decade, we will rely on our network of supporters and partners more than ever before. Last December I witnessed a prime example of how we can maximize those connections for the direct advancement of our mission. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, Nature Conservancy staff from five countries worked in a tightly coordinated manner to advocate for the inclusion of market incentives that support the avoidance of deforestation as a key strategy to combat global climate change.
Clearing of the planet’s tropical forests accounts for an estimated 17 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions responsible for climate change. The policy we helped shape has the potential to trigger the conservation of tropical forests on a scale and at a scope barely imagined before.
As we strive to safeguard the world’s forests, rivers, deserts, grasslands and oceans, we will gain much by expanding our role as a catalyst for others, a trusted advisor to global institutions and the “go-to” organization to build the teams and broker the agreements necessary to expand the scale and scope of global conservation.
Stephanie Meeks
Acting President and CEO
The Nature Conservancy
Summer 2008
Read the previous message from Stephanie Meeks.
Join The Nature Conservancy on