The Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America and one of its most vital ecosystems. Although the brackish waters of the Bay only touch Maryland and Virginia, its 64,000-square-mile watershed spans six states and the District of Columbia connects a diverse landscape of farms, forests, cities and wetlands. This vast region drives the economy through food production, shipping and tourism and sustains over 9 million people and over 3,600 species of plants and animals. The health of the Bay is inseparable fromthe well-being of the communities and wildlife and fisheries that depend on it.

This is why The Nature Conservancy has recently designated the Bay as one of six priority locations around the world in our Global Regenerative Foodscape strategy. Within a Foodscape, TNC convenes multi-stakeholder actors to address systems-level mechanisms including policy, markets, finance, knowledge networks and capacity building, that support the transition to regenerative food systems that are durable over the long term.

Our work to restore the Bay by prioritizing clean water and healthy habitats is done with the partnership and support of people and communities that depend on the abundance of the Bay for their livelihoods. We work with farmers, agribusinesses, oyster growers, private landowners, and local communities because we know that these partnerships are key to ensuring tangible, lasting results.