The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Scientists on a blueprint verification trip. © Li Xinhai/The Nature Conservancy

The secret to The Nature Conservancy’s success is science. Rigorous research guides all that we do. But what does that mean?

Everywhere the Conservancy works, in every part of the world, we start by assembling data on biodiversity, threats and ecosystem health. Then we can focus our efforts where they are needed most and can do the most good. We call it Conservation by Design.

One of our most ambitious assessment and planning efforts to date was recently completed in China. We worked with China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection to create a mammoth conservation Blueprint that helped us and our partners set priorities and create large-scale action plans.

The Blueprint project encompassed a high-level nationwide assessment of priority conservation areas and two in-depth assessments — the Upper Yangtze River Basin and the Sichuan Province. The Blueprint consisted of:

• A comprehensive set of scientific maps of the country’s important biodiversity
• Advising the government on creating action plans for priority regions
• Extensive databases for monitoring biodiversity health; information that is used to select and refine strategies to get the best results
• Information the government needs to redesign and expand China’s nature reserve system to ensure it is effectively conserving biodiversity

By contributing our experience and scientific expertise to the Blueprint project, the Conservancy helped accelerate conservation in China and directed attention to the most biologically significant and threatened lands and waters — resources that support millions of people and some of the planet’s most spectacular plants and animals.