One Future, Many Voices

For every five tons of wood harvested from a forest, roughly five tons of wood are lost from collateral damage and waste. Small changes—like felling trees in ways that don’t damage surrounding ones and cutting narrower roads to leave more forest intact—add up to big carbon storage benefits. TNC developed a way to measure the carbon emission reductions from such practices, called RIL-C (reduced impact logging for climate change mitigation). Our scientists recently worked side by side with a group of forest operators in the Republic of the Congo to use these techniques. Together, they created an approach to measuring carbon emissions from RIL-C methods that is approved by Verra carbon verification standards. These data are critical for measuring logging impacts and will allow access to voluntary carbon credits that reward sustainable forestry initiatives across the Congo Basin—the second-largest tropical forest on Earth that's home to critically endangered populations of forest elephants, leopards and western lowland gorillas.

In Berau, part of Indonesia’s East Kaliman­tan province, 85% of the tropical forest remains intact. Researchers from TNC and our affiliate in Indonesia, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN), along with partner institutions, are studying the most effective timber practices for maintaining a healthy forest. The goal is to support Berau’s local communities while continuing to provide a home for endan­gered orangutans. A partnership with Arhaus, a furniture retailer specializing in sustainably sourced products, is helping to realize this vision. The U.S.-based retailer will acquire forest concessions to ensure the use of—and compensation for—sci­ence-backed logging practices that store more carbon and support nature. Since nearly half of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from forestry and forest loss, reducing logging emissions will be critical to the country’s ability to shrink its climate footprint, while ensuring its orangutans have a future.

Colombia made a huge stride toward its 30x30 goal in 2024 with the creation of a new national park. The National Natural Park Serranía de Manacacías connects two of Latin America’s most biodiverse regions: the Orinoquía, the second-largest tropical savanna on the continent, and the Amazon, the largest river basin and rainforest on Earth. TNC worked with the government of Colombia as part of a coalition to create the national park. The area encompasses more than 68,000 hectares (168,000 acres) of protected savannas and other habitats, and houses a quarter of all the bird species known to live in Colombia. Since 2020, TNC has also been working with nearby land­owners to establish private reserves and promote sustainable production practices. These collective efforts will further connect the park’s ecological treasures while pro­tecting fresh water and boosting climate resilience for local communities.

Conservation is part of Mongolia’s culture—around a fifth of the country’s population are nomadic herders who depend on the vast, rolling grasslands of the steppe for their entire way of life. Over the last 15 years, Mongolia’s government and TNC have worked together to develop a nationwide conservation blueprint. And in 2024, TNC helped close an ambitious deal that brings together the funding and policy commitments necessary for the country to achieve its 30x30 ambitions. Eternal Mongolia, an Enduring Earth Project Finance for Permanence initiative, will expand Mongolia’s national protected-area network and strengthen the effectiveness of existing protected areas. It will also support nomadic herding communities to develop sustainable, climate-resilient, community-managed practices.

The Western Balkans are home to some of Europe’s last free-flowing rivers, but many are threatened by dams, pollution and other risks. 2024 saw major progress in the United for Rivers campaign—an initiative led by TNC and a coalition of six local partners to support community-led protection efforts across five countries and 13 rivers in Southeast Europe. A Croatian county government officially confirmed the protection of the Mrežnica and Tounjčica rivers. And a Montenegro town declared its Đalovića Gorge, split by the Bistrica River, a Natural Monument. These wins are some of the first official protections resulting from the campaign and from the longstanding, community-led efforts to preserve iconic waterways.

Members of the Penobscot Nation have fished the waters of Maine’s North Woods for more than 10,000 years, including in Mattamiscontis Lake (the “place of many alewives” in the Penobscot language). But alewives, which spawn in fresh water yet spend most of their lives in the sea, had been scarce in the years since Europeans brought mill dams, hydropower, logging roads and industrial pollution. Community advocacy over more than a decade led to the removal of dams along the Penobscot River. As a result, alewife populations bounced back from near zero in 2010 to 6 million in 2023. In 2024, additional funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—and more funds leveraged from private donors—allowed for the removal of smaller hindrances like narrow culverts. Now, the fast-growing population of native alewives is returning to Maine’s interior, including the Penobscot tribal lands.

Spanning two-thirds of Canada’s west­ern coast, the Great Bear Rainforest and the Great Bear Sea are a haven for biodiversity, from old-growth forests and spirit bears to kelp forests and salmon. They are also home to the First Nations who have cared for the region over tens of thousands of years. 2024 marked a critical milestone in a decades-long proj­ect to secure First Nations’ leadership over, stewardship of and funding for this treasured place. Seventeen First Nations and the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed an agreement to establish a co-governance model that brings together Indigenous knowledge and Western science. The agreement provides long-term funding to protect and improve the management of more than 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of marine habitat—an area comparable to Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario com­bined. It also creates 3,000 new jobs that support a regenerative economy rooted in Indigenous knowledge. 

Conservation initiatives are often more significant where Indigenous commu­nities are empowered and in control. In Australia, TNC supports the country’s goal of conserving 30% of its lands and waters by the end of the decade. A central part of this effort is growing Australia’s network of protected areas, including Indigenous Protected Areas. Supporting Indigenous Australians in their journey toward a healthy country and thriving communities also results in ecological improvements across these landscapes. And a strong focus on reinforcing, rebuilding and recon­necting cultural, spiritual and social values important to Indigenous Australians is cre­ating a legacy of improved well-being and prosperity for these communities. 

Soy production threatens some of the world’s largest rainforests and tropical savannas across South America’s Gran Chaco, Cerrado and Amazon regions. Many farmers here clear native trees to plant soy crops, but TNC research shows that growing doesn’t have to come at the expense of nature. In fact, previously cleared lands are highly suitable for soy production—and reducing tillage, rotat­ing crops and growing cover crops on these lands can increase soy productiv­ity and restore soil health. TNC has been working with global traders, companies and banks in Argentina and Brazil to offer long-term financing to soy farmers who plant on previously cleared lands instead of clearing more trees. Now, TNC is helping to build traceability into the supply chain with a newly launched tool that tracks responsible soy production. 

Around 3 billion people on Earth—40% of our global population—depend on fish as a major source of protein. Tuna is one of the most heavily consumed products, supporting an over-$40 billion industry. At the same time, more than 80% of marine fish stocks are either overfished or fully exploited and cannot sustain more pressure. One of the biggest obstacles to sustainably managing tuna fisheries is the lack of on-the-water monitoring and data. Currently most industrial tuna-fishing activities remain insufficiently checked for compliance with regulations and social standards. To improve supply chain transparency, TNC is expanding the use of electronic monitoring aboard industrial tuna vessels. These onboard cameras, GPS tools and sensors monitor and verify fishing activities. And through the Tuna Transparency Pledge, launched in 2024, TNC is uniting key players across the seafood supply chain—including retailers, seafood suppliers and governments—to achieve 100% on-the-water monitoring across all industrial tuna vessels by 2027.

Already, the Tuna Transparency Pledge has the backing of the governments of Belize and the Federated States of Micronesia; Thai Union, a global tuna supplier with $3.9 billion in annual sales; and Walmart and Albertsons, two of the largest grocery retailers in the world.