The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Attorney and community leader Jeff Watanabe is the new chair of The Nature Conservancy’s Corporate Council for the Environment (CCE).  Watanabe is an ex-trustee of the Conservancy.  He served on the board for 19 years, including eight years as chairman.  As the new CCE chair, he replaces Stanley Hong, who led the corporate giving program for five years. 

“We are thrilled to have Jeff continue to have a leadership role with the Conservancy,” said Suzanne Case, Executive Director of the Conservancy’s Hawai‘i Program.  “Our work to protect what is unique about our island home can only be done in partnership with businesses.  As chair of the CCE, Jeff will continue to be an excellent advocate for conservation to this important group.”

The Nature Conservancy’s Corporate Council for the Environment was launched in 1987 to engage the business community in supporting conservation in Hawai‘i, emphasizing the direct link between the economy and our environment.  Over that time, the CCE has grown into a coalition of local businesses who have given more than $3.5 million to protect Hawaii’s natural heritage.  

Since 1980, The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i has been conserving and managing native habitats and ecosystems in Hawai‘i.  With a system of 11 preserves on the islands of O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i, the Conservancy directly protects 40,000 acres of critical habitat.  Today, the Conservancy is taking conservation to a new level in Hawai‘i by protecting the larger landscapes of which these preserves are a part.  The Conservancy has also extended its work from the forests to the reefs and is engaged in marine conservation in the near shore waters of the main Hawaiian Islands.