Nature Conservancy Releases “Green” Economic Stimulus

Package highlights infrastructure; restoration.

Altamonte Springs, FL — December 12, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy is advocating for funds to restore ecosystems, initiate green infrastructure construction and create much-needed jobs in the process through a “green” economic stimulus package. The package will be discussed with Capitol Hill lawmakers, agency staff and members of President-elect Obama’s transition team.

“Conservation offers us one of the best opportunities to produce a sustainable long-term economy,” said Jeff Danter, the Conservancy’s Florida director. “Florida’s rivers, coasts and estuaries are directly and indirectly linked to billions of dollars in economic productivity and provide important habitat and ecological services.”

Nature Conservancy staff are advocating that stimulus funds come to Florida for projects such as Everglades restoration, water quality improvements, and shellfish and coral restoration.

“By strengthening already existing federal environmental programs, we can create jobs immediately, and we can also take steps toward addressing environmental threats at a time when they have never been more urgent,” said Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy.

The Nature Conservancy is advocating that a portion of stimulus funding go toward restoring natural systems. Such investment provides human and ecological benefits. For example, restored freshwater marshes can hold water in times of flood, retain water in times of drought and filter out pollutants. Coastal marshes and oyster reefs are nursery grounds for fish and buffer the land against storms.

Recognizing that the stimulus will provide much-needed investment in the nation’s roads, bridges, rails, dams, and levees, The Nature Conservancy is also calling for giving priority to hard infrastructure projects that are compatible with nature. Investing in these “green infrastructure” projects will ensure that stimulus investment will minimize additional environmental damage. Instead of simply patching up old infrastructure, the government can modify roads to alleviate their environmental impacts and create even more jobs.

Large and small-scale Army Corps of Engineers projects to restore ecosystems require significant engineering and construction resources, and a surge of funding to these projects would create a variety of jobs, including heavy equipment operators, surveyors, engineers, ecologists, landscape architects, hydrologists and even botanists who work in nurseries that offer local seedlings and other specialized plants for restoration. Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's proposals.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.