The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Mark Tercek on the Campaign © Mark Godfrey

 

“Our creative energy might be harnessed to protect nature and create new and better ways of doing things."

Mark Tercek

We are at a crossroads. While a historic election — one carefully watched by much of the world — has taken place in the United States, we are also in the midst of a deep recession. What we are seeing today in terms of job losses and a precipitous decline in wealth is unprecedented in recent times, with widespread impacts on the lives of ordinary people worldwide.

Conventional wisdom suggests that in such times of economic crisis, environmental issues should take a back seat to more pressing matters. Protecting nature is seen as a luxury, best kept for more affluent times.

This would be a mistake.

Not only is a vigorous discussion on the environment timely, but green initiatives could very well be key to long-term economic recovery. Both President Obama and award-winning author Thomas Friedman have lent their voices to a chorus of support for advancing green technology and sustainable living as an avenue for the United States to regain its economic footing while enhancing security and human well-being. We save money, we save energy, we create jobs, and we create an environment in which both humans and nature can exist and thrive.

Safeguarding the environment need not be a drag on the economy. A recent analysis published by Nature Conservancy Chief Scientist Peter Kareiva is a case in point. That study of World Bank development projects shows that those efforts with environmental components fare as well as — or better than — those without green initiatives. This comes on the heels of an earlier study supported by the Conservancy that demonstrated how the establishment of marine protected areas in the South Pacific improved communities’ quality of life while safeguarding natural resources. Indeed, in the Solomon Islands, our marine conservation project has shown not only marked increases in marine biodiversity (the number of nesting sea turtles has more than tripled, for example) but increases in household incomes as well: The incomes of more than 1,200 surveyed households doubled during the same period.

There are Conservancy efforts currently under way that exemplify how our creative energy might be harnessed to both protect nature and create new and better ways of doing things. Commercial fishermen in California, for instance, are joining with the Conservancy in a bold experiment designed to show that they can successfully ply their trade while helping to sustain the fisheries on which their livelihoods depend.

Such projects that combine conservation outcomes with promoting jobs, sustainable living and economic opportunity for local communities are not without risk. Nor will the results be immediate. But the willingness to find a common ground between conservation and economic sustainability is indicative of the extraordinary atmosphere in which we now find ourselves, where real and transformative change is not just needed but also desired.

The Conservancy has long found strength in its optimistic worldview, seeing opportunity and hope in crisis and comfort in challenge. Just as strong companies often emerge improved from economic hard times, I remain confident about our collective ability to emerge from this economic downturn stronger, invigorated and renewed.

Change can be painful and exasperating; change can be rewarding and exciting. With patience and perseverance, and by sticking to our values, I am convinced that change for the better will prevail.

Mark Tercek
President and CEO
The Nature Conservancy
Spring 2009

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