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“We are witnessing a sea change in how governments and businesses engage with nonprofits for the protection of nature.”— Mark Tercek |
Science is at the heart of The Nature Conservancy’s mission. It guides where and how we work and assures those with whom we collaborate that our conduct is consistent and sound. Science ensures that we are not driven by the whims of politics, personalities or opportunism. It is one reason we have maintained our respected reputation over nearly six decades.
Never before has our scientific approach been as valued as it is today. Earth is facing an unprecedented confluence of circumstances that invite — if not demand — collaboration among all sectors of society for the benefit of our natural world. We are finally facing the fact that our natural resources are finite, that economic development has global ramifications and that real natural phenomena such as climate change know no political borders.
Around the globe, the intrinsic importance of conservation is being recognized. Driven both by consumer and bottom-line pressure, businesses are going green as never before. Governments, faced with growing global demand for energy, depleting energy supplies and resulting high costs, are seeing conservation as not just beneficial but essential. And in the developing world, social welfare agencies are realizing that lifting people out of poverty is very much dependent on securing a sustainable natural environment.
The Nature Conservancy’s foundation in science makes us a valuable potential partner in such endeavors. I believe our scientific expertise and research should do more than inform our own actions; we have the ability to influence those forces that have the power to disrupt — or protect — our most valuable lands and waters.
I am particularly heartened by the example being set in Wyoming, where Nature Conservancy scientists are working with BP to help guide natural-gas exploration away from the area’s most sensitive and essential wildlife habitats well in advance of drilling. Nature Conservancy science is being applied in similar ways around the globe — from engaging one of Hong Kong’s largest developers to help guide a future resort in China’s Yunnan Province to be as gentle on the land as possible to helping hundreds of farmers and ranchers in Brazil identify the most ecologically effective ways to comply with their country’s set-aside laws.
Working at an even larger scale, our climate scientists recently unveiled a simulation model that helps predict the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Our interest was first to guide our own planning and help protect existing conservation investments. But this tool can also inform the conservation planning of governments, foundations and communities, as well as inform better decisions about development.
Whether driven by regulation, visionary leadership or simple economics, the public and private sectors are increasingly eager to “do the right thing” and avoid the costly mistakes of the past. Not so long ago, sides were much more polarized. Too often it was us against them. Today “us” is becoming a much more integrated universe.
That doesn’t mean that we should be any less vigilant in guarding against environmental abuse or green-washing. There will be times when we disagree with partners over crucial issues. Still, in a world where energy development is burgeoning as the clock ticks for our wildlife’s survival, projects like the one in Wyoming are proving that we can fashion compromise solutions that benefit key landscapes and wildlife. As always, the foundation for such solutions is our science. It both guides us and inspires us, every day.
Mark Tercek
President and CEO
The Nature Conservancy
Winter 2008
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