The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Kent trying to catch (so he can release) a beaver caught in a trap meant for an otter. Kent is working on a River otter trapping and tracking project which is partly facilitated by The Nature Conservancy. Kent's task is to trap and implant otters with transmitters to determine range and habitat use. © Chris Helzer/2007 The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy applies our science-based conservation approach in multiple scales to reflect patterns in nature as well as socio-political and economic realities.

To do this, we use three complementary analytical methods: global habitat assessments, ecoregional assessments and conservation action planning.

Global Habitat Assessments

To establish goals and priorities in a global context, the Conservancy works with others to assemble, improve and disseminate global data on the distribution and status of biodiversity, habitat condition, current and future threats to that biodiversity and the socio-political conditions that influence conservation success.

These data are used to estimate the current level of effective conservation within and across ecoregions in each major habitat type on Earth, and to set 10-year goals for advancing effective conservation.

Global habitat assessments help us identify conservation gaps and establish priorities for allocating resources on a global scale — which specific ecoregions, threats to biodiversity and strategic opportunities affect one or more major habitat types and demand immediate attention.

Ecoregional Assessments

To establish goals and priorities for the highly ranked ecoregions identified in a global habitat assessment, the Conservancy works with others to develop and disseminate finer-scale data on the distribution and status of biodiversity, habitat condition, current and future threats and the socio-political conditions that influence conservation success within those ecoregions.

Conservation Action Planning

We translate global and ecoregional priorities into conservation strategies and actions through Conservation Action Planning. This method is used to design and manage conservation projects that advance conservation at any scale — from efforts to conserve species and ecosystems in a single watershed or landscape to efforts to reform regional or multi-national policies.