Featured project sites

Nature Conservancy of Tennessee's William B. Clark, Sr., Nature Preserve on the Wolf River at Rossville, Tennessee.

The Nature Conservancy's expanding international conservation efforts include work in North America, Central America, and South America, Africa, the Pacific Rim, the Caribbean, and Asia. Increasingly, the Conservancy focuses on projects at significant scale, recognizing the threat habitat fragmentation brings to plants and animals.^{[citation needed]} Below are a few examples of such work:
The Nature Conservancy was instrumental in the creation in 2004 of the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. The Conservancy's efforts in China's Yunnan province, one of the most vital centers of plant diversity in the northern temperate hemisphere, serve as a model for locally based ecotourism with a global impact. The Nature Conservancy and its conservation partner, Pronatura Peninsula Yucatán, are working to halt deforestation on private lands in and around the 1.8 million acre (7,300 km²) Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, along the Mexico-Guatemala border. In November 2004, 370,000 acres (1,500 km²) of threatened tropical forest in Calakmul were permanently protected under a historic land deal between the Mexican federal and state government, Pronatura Peninsula Yucatán, four local communities and the Conservancy.^{[citation needed]}
The Nature Conservancy's programs in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are working together to build partnerships and enhance the profile of the conservation needs in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem by supporting voluntary, private land conservation of important wildlife habitat. Conservation easements, land acquisition, stewardship agreements, grassbanks, prescribed fires and weed districts are a few of the tools the Conservancy and its partners use to protect this region's natural heritage. The Nature Conservancy's worldwide office is located in Arlington, Virginia.^{[citation needed]}
The Conservancy was instrumental in the 2004 establishment of the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota. Glacial Ridge is reputed to be the largest tallgrass prairie and wetlands restoration project ever.^{[citation needed]}
In 2007 the Nature Conservancy made a 161,000-acre (650 km²) purchase of New York forestland from Finch Paper Holdings LLC for $110 million, its largest purchase ever in that state.^{[14][non-primary source needed]}
In 2008 June The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land announced they reached an agreement to purchase approximately 320,000 acres (1,300 km²) of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber Company (NYSE:PCL) for $510 million. The purchase, known as the Montana Legacy Project, is part of an effort to keep these forests in productive timber management and protect the area’s clean water and abundant fish and wildlife habitat, while promoting continued public access to these lands for fishing, hiking, hunting and other recreational pursuits.^{[15][non-primary source needed]}

[edit] Plant a Billion Trees campaign

The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees Campaign is an effort to restore 2,500,000 acres (10,100 km²) of land and plant 1 billion trees by 2015 in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Each donated dollar results in one planted tree in the Atlantic Forest.^{[16][non-primary source needed]}

[edit] Environmental benefits

The Plant a Billion Trees campaign has also been identified as a tool to help slow climate change, as the Atlantic Forest – one of the biggest tropical forests in the world – helps regulate the atmosphere and stabilize global climate. The reforestation of the Atlantic Forest has the capability to remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The Nature Conservancy states that this is equivalent to taking 2 million cars off the road. The Atlantic Forest’s restoration could help to slow the process of climate change that is affecting the earth.^{[citation needed]}
The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees Campaign also aims to protect 10 critical watersheds in the Atlantic Forest that provide water and hydro power to more than 70 million people, create 20,000 direct jobs, and an additional 70,000 indirectly as part of this effort. The Plant a Billion Trees Campaign is also associated with The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program, which consists of nine locations, including Brazil.^{[17][non-primary source needed]}

[edit] Involvement in the community

The Nature Conservancy also features e-cards from the Atlantic Forest, as well as video of the Atlantic Forest and detailed information about the seedlings on their micro-site at http://www.plantabillion.org. The Web site also features a news feed and an interactive map of the Atlantic Forest region in Brazil, as well as information on many of the plants, animals, and people that are impacted by the plight of the forest and who may benefit from its restoration.^{[18][non-primary source needed]}

[edit] Tree planting

The Nature Conservancy plants one tree in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil for each dollar donated by supporters.^{[citation needed]} Some of the seeds being planted consist of:

• Guapuruvu Tree (Schizolobium parahyba) – An indigenous plant of Atlantic Forest, this has one of the fastest growth rates of all the native species.
• Golden Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia umbellate) – According to popular belief, when this tree’s yellow blooms appear, no more frosts will occur. The wood of a Golden Trumpet Tree has the same fire rating as concrete and is denser than water. Illegal logging activity has grown due to this tree’s growing popularity.
• Ice-Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis) – Leafy and abundant, this tree controls weeds and erosion. Its popular fruit is a long pod up to a few feet, containing a sweet pulp surrounding large seeds.
• Capororoca Tree (Myrsine ferruginea) – Birds like the Rufous-bellied Thrush enjoy the fruit off of this tree