Kris Sarri

Restoring What Sustains Us: A World Ocean Day Reflection

The ocean connects us all—across every sea, every border and every line we draw on a map. The threats facing our ocean don't stop at borders either and neither can our response to them.

Throughout my career, I have worked on ocean conservation—from fishing and aquaculture to clean water and plastic pollution policy. On World Ocean Day, I think of the people I've come to know over years of work: the fishermen, the researchers, the conservationists, who all depend on a healthy ocean and are working every day to protect it.  

I grew up far from saltwater, shaped by the sweet seas of the Great Lakes. It wasn’t until my mom moved us to Australia that I first experienced the full beauty of the ocean. Tide pools became my babysitter for hours—whole afternoons lost to small fish and the wonder of discovering a world hidden in plain sight. That sense of wonder never left me. But what came later, through years of working alongside communities near places like Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, was something harder: the realization that the ocean is not the indestructible force it appears to be. It is a living system under serious pressure, and the people closest to it feel that pressure most acutely.

The threats to our one ocean are interconnected and compounding. Climate change is the tide running beneath all of it—warming and acidifying waters, pushing species into ranges they've never occupied and intensifying the storms that batter our coastlines. Pollution layers on top of that: plastics that entangle and starve wildlife, nutrient runoff that creates oxygen-depleted dead zones, contaminants that move up the food chain in ways we are still working to understand. Meanwhile, salt marshes, eelgrass beds and shellfish reefs that serve as the ocean's connective tissue are losing ground. And the decades of overfishing left fish populations a fraction of what they once were. 

At The Nature Conservancy, we understand there is one ocean we must all work to protect. Globally, TNC is working to improve management of roughly 10 percent of the world's ocean by 2030, a goal that requires both international ambition and intensely local action. Massachusetts is one of the places where that global mission takes concrete form, where science and the strategy meet the fishing docks, the salt marshes and the communities that live alongside these waters.

What gives me hope is how Massachusetts is rising to meet that moment. The state's  Biodiversity Goals and the Resilient Coasts Initiative are centering around the  protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems for people and nature. These efforts include restoring degraded salt marshes and eelgrass beds, rebuilding shellfish reefs, and pursuing federal sanctuary status for Cashes Ledge—one of the last old-growth kelp forests in the western North Atlantic.

TNC is working alongside the state and partners. On habitat, TNC recently partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to begin developing a statewide plan for restoring shellfish reefs, salt marshes and eelgrass. Partnering with the Town of Mashpee and oyster farmers, we are building a new oyster reef in Hamblin Pond designed to improve water quality and provide habitat for marine life. This is part of an effort to scale this type of project across Massachusetts. On fisheries, more than 15 years of direct partnership with fishing communities contributed to a landmark decision by the New England Fisheries Management Council to adopt comprehensive groundfish monitoring, giving depleted stocks a real path to recovery. And on offshore wind, TNC's Northeast Marine Mapping Tool can aid developers in efforts to direct new energy infrastructure away from the most sensitive habitats—ensuring the clean energy transition doesn't become yet another source of pressure on an already stressed system.

What happens in Massachusetts’ waters reached far beyond their borders. Every restored marsh, every recovering fish population, every carefully sited wind installation is evidence that a different relationship between people and the ocean is possible, and importantly, can be replicated. That is how a global goal becomes real: not all at once, but one coastline at a time. 

In “Ode To Our Ocean,” Amanda Gorman writes: 

    Being the people of this blue planet is our most 
    Profound privilege and power, 
    For if we be the ocean’s saviors, 
    Then it is surely ours. 

On World Ocean Day, I believe we can be the ocean’s saviors. Recovery doesn't happen on its own—it happens because people who understand what's at stake keep showing up, keep doing the hard work of restoration and advocacy and science, keep insisting that the ocean's survival and ours are bound together. As Gorman says, the ocean is singing out. Massachusetts is listening. And we are doing the work.

How the Natural World Pays Us Back | April 2026

In March, The Nature Conservancy published Nature's Dividends: The Economic, Health, and Safety Benefits of Investing in Nature, a landmark national report pulling together findings from over 1,000 studies. The bottom line? Nature is far more than beautiful scenery—it is infrastructure, and like any well-maintained infrastructure, it's working hard for us every single day, and the returns on investing in it are remarkable.

Take the economy. Outdoor recreation alone generates $640 billion a year and supports nearly five million jobs across the United States. Fishing, hunting and wildlife-watching add another $395 billion in economic activity. And for every dollar invested in land conservation, four dollars come back in the form of natural services like clean water and flood protection. These aren't abstract figures. They represent real businesses, real jobs and real savings for communities that would otherwise be paying far more to treat polluted water or rebuild after floods.

Nature also quietly keeps us safe. Wetlands and salt marshes absorb extreme precipitation and buffer storm surge before it reaches our neighborhoods. Forests filter the water flowing to our taps at a fraction of what it would cost to treat the same water through a plant. In Massachusetts alone, wetlands prevent an estimated $18 million in flood damage every year in the Charles River Watershed, and the state's fresh and saltwater wetlands deliver $2.3 billion in services annually. When we protect these natural systems, we're essentially buying insurance—at a very good price.

Then there's the health side, which may be the most personal dividend of all. People who live near green space have meaningfully lower rates of heart disease, diabetes and depression. A 15-minute walk in the woods measurably lowers stress hormones and blood pressure. Parks encourage kids and adults to move more, which the CDC estimates could save $117 billion in healthcare costs annually if we simply got outside more often. Nature is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions we have.

TNC in Massachusetts is betting big on these outcomes; nature-based solutions are at the heart of many of our strategies for tackling and adapting to climate change, and we’re supporting nature in healing itself to address biodiversity loss. In collaboration with local communities, supporters and partner organizations, we are working across the Commonwealth to restore salt marshes and oyster beds for more resilient coastline, upgrade culverts to reduce flooding, protect critical wildlife corridors and harness the power of forests to help absorb the carbon emissions driving climate change—just to name a few.  

And where we can, we’re advocating for the policies that ensure this work can get done. The first week of March, TNC held a briefing on the Nature’s Dividends report for members of Congress on Capitol Hill, reinforcing how critical it is that we keep funding and making conservation efforts possible. Locally, we’re urging the legislature to pass the Mass Ready Act and increase funding for programs to protect people and nature. And, we are fighting back against the Healey-Driscoll administration cuts to the budgets of environmental agencies, especially the Department of Fish and Game. The goal isn’t bureaucratic, it's about fostering practical and innovative solutions: fewer flooded roads, cleaner water coming out of the tap, healthier people, more resilient coastal communities and a stronger economy built on a foundation of thriving land and water. 

Diving even deeper, we’re working to shape policy reforms for streamlining processes to make wetland restoration—coastal and inland—less cumbersome and costly for organizations. We’re forging partnerships and bringing together practitioners across state lines in the transportation sector to improve wildlife crossings across roadways as we upgrade infrastructure for community and safety benefits. We’re also making sure that efforts to streamline renewable energy siting and permitting come with stronger environmental standards for forest carbon and biodiversity. It’s these behind-the-scenes and foundational efforts that will really help us move the needle toward the future we envision.

The science shows us that every dollar we invest in nature pays back many times over—in safer communities, lower healthcare costs, thriving local economies and ecosystems that can weather whatever comes next.

To learn more, we developed a factsheet on the economic benefits of conservation in Massachusetts. 

Massachusetts Conservation in Action: Reflections from The Nature Conservancy’s State Director | February 2026

Six months ago, I stepped into my role as Massachusetts State Director for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) feeling both grateful and energized. My love for the outdoors—and my belief that strong communities and quality of life depend on a healthy planet—are what drew me to this work and to TNC’s mission to create a livable climate, healthy communities and thriving nature.

Since joining TNC, I’ve been diving into our efforts to address climate change and protect Massachusetts’ lands, rivers, ocean and coasts. From the Berkshires to our estuaries, these ecosystems are deeply interconnected. The water that starts as raindrops in the Berkshires fills rivers and flows through cities and towns, eventually reaching estuaries, where it supports the plants and animals that sustain coastal economies and fisheries.

People across Massachusetts rely on these systems culturally, economically and for their wellbeing—which is why our conservation strategies take a whole-watershed, source-to-sea approach. While our freshwater and coastal goals may be distinct, success depends on working in harmony with nature and across systems.

Over the past several months, I’ve visited projects across the state—from river restoration and dam removals in Western Massachusetts to living shorelines on the South Shore and habitat and oyster restoration on Martha’s Vineyard. The projects below show how science-based solutions strengthen communities, improve climate resilience and support biodiversity and local economies.

• In East Braintree, TNC is supporting the city's efforts to build a living shoreline to naturally address erosion and flooding. Lessons we're learning from these projects are being shared regionally to help communities adapt to climate change, and they connect directly to our national and global efforts to help 100 million people at severe risk of climate-related emergencies.
• On Martha’s Vineyard, where TNC has worked for several decades, we are restoring rare sandplain grasslands and supporting oyster aquaculture and restoration. It is inspiring to consider the many species that benefit from restored habitat and improved water quality, and the positive outcomes for communities that depend on healthy coastal systems—not just on Martha’s Vineyard but also on Cape Cod and across Massachusetts’ shores.
• In Western Massachusetts, we are building on TNC’s early 2000s leadership on dam removal by scaling our impact through the Free Rivers Accelerator—a groundbreaking initiative to restore Appalachian rivers. With 390,000 miles of waterways and 70,000 dams across the region, only two percent of U.S. rivers remain free-flowing. The Free Rivers Accelerator addresses barriers to dam removal, like limited local capacity to take on projects and limited collaboration between organizations with shared goals. The work started in the Berkshires and is expanding across the region to ensure rivers flow unobstructed for the benefit of people and nature. 

The benefits of habitat conservation and healthy, free-flowing freshwater extend far beyond inland Massachusetts—they reach all the way to the coast. From the Westfield River in the Appalachian landscape through the Connecticut River to Long Island Sound, or from the Merrimack River into the Gulf of Maine and the Atlantic Ocean, implementing strategies with a whole-watershed approach is how we make lasting progress. 

Much like communities continue to adapt to climate change and its impacts, we adapt our strategies to meet evolving challenges. Heading into the rest of 2026, I am confident that TNC in Massachusetts will continue to be a leader in innovative conservation—from forest to sea, and everything in between.

Energy Affordability and Climate Progress | December 19, 2025

Massachusetts is at a pivotal moment in shaping an energy future that is both affordable and clean. A major bill now under consideration—H.4744, a wide-ranging proposal aimed at lowering energy costs and accelerating clean power development—has sparked important debate. The Nature Conservancy’s comments on the bill emphasize that recent spikes in electricity bills weren’t caused by renewable energy but by volatile natural gas prices and the rising cost of maintaining aging infrastructure. Thanks to decades of leadership in efficiency, Massachusetts already uses less energy per dollar of economic activity than almost any other state, and clean energy has become a major economic engine supporting more than 115,000 jobs.

To keep costs down while meeting climate goals, TNC urges lawmakers to strengthen—not weaken—policies that expand well-sited renewable energy, streamline transmission development and maintain strong efficiency programs like Mass Save. TNC supports provisions in H.4744 that would modernize how the Commonwealth procures clean energy and prioritizes building transmission lines along existing roadways, reducing both environmental impacts and unnecessary costs. TNC also backs efforts to prevent utilities from charging ratepayers for political or unrelated business activities.

At the same time, TNC is also concerned that other parts of the bill could undermine affordability and climate progress. Proposals to cap the Mass Save budget, slow the pace of renewable energy growth or weaken emissions targets would reduce the long-term certainty needed for clean energy investment and could ultimately raise costs for consumers.

The message is clear: Massachusetts can lower energy bills, strengthen its economy, and protect nature by doubling down on efficiency and renewable energy—not rolling back the policies that have made Massachusetts a national leader.

View The Nature Conservancy’s full comments here.