What We Do-Securing Innovative Conservation Finance

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Forest Conservation: What We Do

Securing Innovative Conservation Finance

We work to develop markets and create financial incentives that improve forest management.

FSC certified logs being processed at Cururu, Bolivia. In Curur? and 15 other Bolivian communities, through a project created by the Bolivian government and the U.S. Agency for International Development, forests are commercially harvested using sustainable forest management principles. As leader of the project, The Nature Conservancy is working with its partners to provide hands-on technical assistance and training to help local people profitably run a community forestry enterprise and sustainably manage their forests. Products from wood harvested in Curur? are shipped to national and international markets bearing the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) seal of certification. Photograph taken on assignment for The Nature Conservancy's "Design For A Living World" project and exhibition. © Ami Vitale

East Kalimantan, Indonesia © Mark Godfrey

We work to increase the resources available for forest conservation by:

Developing markets for the benefits and services provided by forest ecosystems
Establishing partnerships with private capital investors, such as Conservation Forestry, LLC
Creating financial incentives that improve forest management.

Forest Ecosystem Services

Forests provide a range of direct and indirect ecosystem services that benefit people: non-timber forest products, watershed protection, the ability of trees to absorb carbon pollution from the atmosphere and produce oxygen, and ecotourism and recreational opportunities.

Sadly, poverty compels people to deplete their forests and other natural resources to meet their basic needs for living. And forest owners often will sell land when faced with development pressure if they have little economic incentive to maintain their working forests.

The Nature Conservancy is working to develop markets that capture sources of income from things other than logging, such as ecotourism and carbon credits. We also aim to create systems to ensure that the financial benefits derived from forests accrue to local communities, thus helping improve their quality of life and lift them out of poverty.

We have advanced the concept of conservation forestry, providing income and jobs through good forest practices while protecting biodiversity. We have also pioneered working conservation easements, voluntary land protection agreements that protect conservation values while maintaining economically productive forestlands in private ownership.

March 07, 2011