Lands and resources lying beneath oceans and along coasts have been bought, sold, and leased for centuries for commercial purposes. Billions of dollars are spent every year to develop and use these submerged lands for shipping facilities, marinas, docks, aquaculture, and other economic activities.

To address this, the Conservancy works with partners to ensure that environmental interests have the same opportunity as economic interests to acquire ocean and coastal lands and resources.

Expanding the Tools for Marine Conservation

The Nature Conservancy is assessing how market forces can be used to create economic incentives to conserve ocean and coastal lands and resources. The primary focus of this work is to take successful strategies used on land?the acquisition and management of natural resources through ownership, easements, and leases?and apply them to the oceans and coasts.

By holding interests in lands and resources, private organizations such as the Conservancy can protect important sites while gaining a seat at the table when local and regional decisions affecting critical habitat are made.

The Conservancy works with partners to support conditions for successful leasing and ownership including:

• Identify critical habitats and sites in need of protection and restoration.
• Involve community stakeholders in identifying management options and partnerships.
• Support public policies that balance the needs of people and healthy ecosystems.
• Utilize low costs of submerged lands to stretch limited marine conservation funds further.
• Share lessons learned and best practices to enable other organizations to implement this approach.

Advancing Marine Policy

The Conservancy works with state officials to assess and develop policies that support the leasing and ownership of submerged ocean and coastal lands and resources. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), with input from the Conservancy, crafted a unique program to authorize leases explicitly for the conservation of submerged lands.

We are also exploring the laws and policies of other states, as well as those for federal and international waters, for additional opportunities.

Where We Work on Submerged Land Projects

The Conservancy has acquired over 25,000 acres of submerged lands for preservation, restoration, and research in the United States including:

• Port Susan Bay, Washington
• Great South Bay, New York
• Virginia Coast Reserve, Virginia
• Woodard Bay, Washington

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): © Natalie Fobes (Submerged land leased by the Conservancy at Woodard Bay, Washington); © Natalie Fobes (Barnacles at Woodard Bay, Washington)