2025 Impact Report

Resilient Watersheds: Nature-based solutions—such as forest protection, regenerative agriculture, wetland restoration and natural vegetation corridors on waterways—restore watershed health. In fact, shifting just 1% of water sector spending to “green” infrastructure would eclipse all philanthropic spending on conservation combined. TNC is working to make watershed health a priority in the water sector and ensure that investments in nature-based solutions are a common practice. 

Freshwater Fisheries: In many freshwater ecosystems, local and Indigenous communities have secure tenure over freshwater resources and fisheries. In these places, national and regional approaches to freshwater management must be paired with bottom-up conservation driven by the communities themselves. By partnering and supporting Indigenous peoples and local communities, we are aiming to simultaneously achieve freshwater biodiversity and human well-being outcomes. 

Coastal Fisheries: The small-scale fisheries sector represents ~40% of all fish catch, much of it coming from developing nations. However, a lack of data, resources and capacity hinders progress toward science-based management, leaving thousands of fisheries and fishers at risk. FishPath offers a tailored approach through which stakeholders can evaluate and select the best options at their disposal for assessing and managing data- and capacity-limited fisheries. 

Large Scale Fisheries: While a range of threats—acidification, warming, pollution—threaten the basic functioning of ocean ecosystems, illegal and unsustainable fishing act like threat multipliers. Most illegal and unsustainable fishing is undertaken by legally licensed fishing vessels through prohibited activities. Electronic monitoring (EM)—on-board cameras and associated hardware/software to capture fishing activity—is a proven tool that illuminates dark spots in fisheries and fills critical data gaps that impede transparency, enforcement and science-based fisheries management. TNC’s Large Scale Fisheries strategy is driving EM adoption through market power to pressure suppliers, find tech solutions that address pain points and promote national and regional policy reforms. 

Restorative Aquaculture: Today, much of our global food system requires land for production, and almost all the world’s fertile land is already in use. Our ocean, by contrast, covers nearly 3/4 of the planet, yet provides just 2% of our food. Marine aquaculture is an important source of nutrition—and, research indicates, an emerging climate change solution. We are contributing to the industry’s transition to a restorative, low-carbon future while meeting the food demands of a growing global population. 

Zero Conversion Commodities: Production of beef, soy and other commodities is a leading cause of habitat and biodiversity loss and global climate emissions. By changing agricultural incentives and market models, we can help producers transition to more sustainable practices and ultimately eliminate habitat loss from global commodity production. We are currently focusing on three of the world’s most biodiverse biomes—the Amazon, Cerrado, and Gran Chaco of South America. 

Regenerative Foodscapes: Food production is a major driver of climate change and habitat loss, accounting for nearly 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions, 90% of land-use change and 70% of water use globally. Food producers, businesses and experts are calling for a shift toward practices that are restorative, climate resilient and more productive. Responding to this call, we are catalyzing a new movement of regenerative practices in the world’s most important foodscapes.