The Nature Conservancy

Professional services

A global environmental nonprofit that protects biodiversity, ecosystems, watersheds, forests, oceans, and the communities that depend on them.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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Overview

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a United States-based environmental nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Its work combines land protection, ecological science, habitat restoration, conservation finance, policy engagement, and partnerships with governments, Indigenous peoples, local communities, companies, and other civil-society organizations. Rather than operating as a conventional consumer brand, TNC functions as a global conservation institution whose principal offerings are projects, scientific tools, conservation transactions, policy programs, and opportunities for individuals and organizations to fund environmental outcomes. The organization traces its intellectual roots to the Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915. Ecologists led by Victor Shelford created a committee concerned with preserving natural areas for scientific study. During the 1930s and 1940s, members including Shelford and Aldo Leopold increasingly argued that ecological organizations should advocate for conservation as well as conduct research. After the committee was dissolved, Shelford and associates formed the Ecologists' Union in 1946. That organization later adopted the name The Nature Conservancy, and TNC was incorporated as a U.S. nonprofit on October 22, 1951. During its early decades, TNC concentrated heavily on acquiring land or arranging ownership and easements to prevent development. Under Patrick Noonan, who led the organization from 1973 to 1980, it expanded fundraising, land acquisition, and decentralized state programs. A major strategic shift began in 1970 when TNC hired Robert E. Jenkins Jr. as its first staff scientist. With Noonan's support, Jenkins helped develop systematic state inventories of rare species, ecological communities, and their locations. These inventories became the foundation of the Natural Heritage Network and strengthened TNC's reputation for science-based prioritization. TNC's conservation portfolio now spans terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine environments. It has worked in North America, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. In the United States, notable initiatives have included protection of forests and watersheds in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, Montana, Washington, New York, and other states. International work has included forest conservation in Mexico's Calakmul region, rainforest restoration in Brazil, marine conservation in the Seychelles, and projects supporting Indigenous leadership and sustainable economic development through the Canadian affiliate Nature United. The organization also develops financial mechanisms intended to make conservation durable at large scale. NatureVest, an impact-investing unit established in 2014 with founding sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase, was created to mobilize private capital for measurable conservation results. Its best-known early transaction was a Seychelles debt-for-nature restructuring that helped finance a major expansion of marine protected areas. TNC has also used conservation easements, public-private land transactions, carbon and forest finance, watershed programs, and large restoration campaigns. TNC reports more than one million members globally as of 2021 and more than 119 million acres of land protected over its history. It has described itself as the largest environmental nonprofit in the Americas by assets and revenue, although such comparisons depend on the accounting period and organizations included. Its public-facing work includes the Plant a Billion Trees campaign, scientific publications and data platforms, conservation planning, advocacy, and the Nature Conservancy magazine. The organization's partnerships with major corporations and resource-sector companies have generated both funding and criticism. Supporters argue that engagement can redirect business practices and capital toward conservation. Critics have questioned TNC's relationships with fossil-fuel, mining, timber, chemical, agricultural, and financial companies, as well as its participation in carbon-credit markets and forest-based climate strategies. TNC has also faced scrutiny over land transactions and governance practices, leading to reforms after a 2003 investigative series, and over an internal sexual-harassment investigation that preceded several senior departures in 2019. Despite these controversies, TNC remains an active, internationally operating conservation organization with a hybrid model that combines direct protection of places, scientific analysis, institutional partnerships, and environmental finance.

History

The Nature Conservancy emerged from a debate within American ecology over whether scientific societies should limit themselves to research or actively defend natural areas. The Ecological Society of America created a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study in 1915. Victor Shelford led the committee, whose initial objective was to identify places suitable for long-term ecological research. By the 1930s, Shelford, Aldo Leopold, and other associates increasingly embraced direct conservation advocacy. The committee was dissolved in 1946, after which Shelford and colleagues organized the Ecologists' Union. The group eventually adopted the name The Nature Conservancy and was incorporated in the United States on October 22, 1951. For much of its early history, TNC pursued conservation primarily through land purchase and related ownership arrangements. It expanded by building state programs and acquiring ecologically important properties, but its early approach placed less emphasis on standardized scientific assessment. Patrick Noonan's presidency from 1973 to 1980 brought aggressive fundraising, major acquisitions, and a more decentralized operating structure. A scientific reorientation began in 1970, when TNC hired Robert E. Jenkins Jr. as its first staff scientist. With Noonan's backing, Jenkins worked with state governments to inventory rare species, natural communities, and the locations where they occurred. These inventories later developed into the Natural Heritage Network, providing a shared information base for identifying conservation priorities. This shift helped TNC move from simply protecting available parcels to selecting places according to biodiversity significance and landscape function. TNC subsequently expanded beyond conventional land trusts. Its programs came to include freshwater protection, forest and watershed conservation, marine protected areas, habitat restoration, climate adaptation, sustainable agriculture, conservation policy, and partnerships with Indigenous peoples and local communities. In North America, projects included the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, New York forests, Washington's Cascade Range, Montana's Blackfoot River Valley, and conservation landscapes in Mexico's Calakmul region. Its Canadian affiliate, Nature United, was established as a Canadian charity in 2014 after decades of conservation activity and has supported work in the Great Bear Rainforest, Clayoquot Sound, the Northwest Territories, and northern Manitoba. TNC also developed mechanisms for financing conservation at national and international scale. NatureVest, launched in 2014 with support from JPMorgan Chase, was intended to source impact capital for projects with measurable environmental outcomes. In 2015, NatureVest helped arrange a Seychelles debt-for-nature transaction involving the Seychelles government, creditor nations, private philanthropic support, and other partners. The arrangement helped expand marine protected waters from less than one percent to more than thirty percent of the country's marine area, according to descriptions of the project. The Plant a Billion Trees campaign, launched in 2008, broadened TNC's public fundraising and restoration profile. It targeted forests in countries including Brazil, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, and the United States. The Brazil component focused on restoring native Atlantic Forest trees across heavily deforested landscapes. TNC has presented forest restoration as a biodiversity, watershed, and climate intervention. Growth and corporate engagement also brought scrutiny. A 2003 Washington Post investigation questioned land transactions, executive compensation, governance, and arrangements involving supporters and trustees. TNC suspended several practices and commissioned an independent review, whose 2004 report recommended extensive ethical and governance reforms. Later criticism focused on TNC's relationships with fossil-fuel and other resource companies, oil and gas interests on conservation-controlled land, corporate sponsorship, carbon credits, and forest-management policy. In 2019, an internal sexual-harassment investigation led to multiple senior departures and a temporary leadership transition. TNC remains active internationally, combining place-based conservation with science, finance, advocacy, and public engagement.

2019
Leadership transition after harassment investigation
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Several senior officials departed, and Sally Jewell was selected as interim CEO.
2015
Seychelles debt-for-nature transaction completed
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
The transaction supported a substantial increase in Seychelles marine protection.
2015
Additional Washington and Montana forest transaction
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
TNC acquired 165,073 acres of forests, rivers, and wildlife habitat in Washington and Montana.
2014
NatureVest established
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
TNC created an impact-investing unit focused on conservation finance.
2014
Nature United founded in Canada
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
The Canadian affiliate was established as a charity, building on TNC's prior Canadian conservation work.
2008
Plant a Billion Trees launched
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
The campaign began supporting large-scale tree planting and forest restoration in priority landscapes worldwide.
2008
Mark Tercek became chief executive
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Tercek began a CEO tenure that continued until 2019.
2007
Major New York forest acquisition
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
TNC completed a 161,000-acre New York forest purchase described as its largest acquisition in the state at that time.
2003
Land-deal investigation prompted governance review
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Investigative reporting raised questions about land sales, compensation, and governance practices.
1973
Patrick Noonan began presidency
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Noonan expanded fundraising, land acquisition, and decentralized state conservation programs.
1970
First staff scientist hired
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Robert E. Jenkins Jr. joined as TNC's first staff scientist, beginning a stronger biodiversity-science orientation.
1951
The Nature Conservancy incorporated
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
The modern U.S. nonprofit was incorporated on October 22, 1951.
1946
Ecologists' Union formed
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Shelford and colleagues created the Ecologists' Union after the earlier committee was dissolved.
1915
Ecological Society of America establishes conservation committee
[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
A committee led by Victor Shelford began identifying natural areas suitable for ecological research, providing an institutional precursor to TNC.

Products and positioning

Science-based, large-scale conservation organization that combines direct protection of land and water with restoration, policy, Indigenous and community partnerships, and innovative environmental finance.

Conservation program · 1951
Land and habitat conservation
TNC protects ecologically important landscapes through purchases, conservation easements, negotiated agreements, partnerships with public agencies, and support for local stewardship. Its projects have included forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, coastal areas, and wildlife habitat. The organization increasingly links individual properties into larger landscape-scale conservation systems rather than treating each parcel as an isolated preserve.
Scientific information service · 1970
Natural Heritage Network
The Natural Heritage Network grew from state-by-state inventories developed with TNC support after the organization hired Robert E. Jenkins Jr. The network records rare species, ecological communities, and documented occurrences, helping governments and conservation groups prioritize sites and assess biodiversity. It represents the organization's transition toward systematic, data-informed conservation planning.
Conservation finance · 2014
NatureVest
NatureVest is TNC's impact-investing platform, created to design and place financial products intended to produce measurable conservation benefits. Its work has included debt restructuring, private-capital mobilization, and other mechanisms intended to connect environmental outcomes with investable finance. The Seychelles debt-for-nature transaction is its most prominent example in the supplied reference material.
Forest restoration campaign · 2008
Plant a Billion Trees
Plant a Billion Trees is a global forest-restoration campaign focused on planting trees in landscapes facing substantial ecological need. Activities have been described in Brazil, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, and the United States. The program links tree planting with habitat restoration, watershed protection, biodiversity recovery, and climate mitigation.
Canadian affiliate · 2014
Nature United
Nature United is TNC's Canadian affiliate. It supports conservation and sustainable-development initiatives with particular attention to Indigenous leadership and large landscapes, including the Great Bear Rainforest, Clayoquot Sound, the Northwest Territories, and northern Manitoba. It operates as a Canadian charity with headquarters in Toronto and field staff across the country.
Publication
The Nature Conservancy magazine
The Nature Conservancy publishes a member- and public-facing magazine covering conservation projects, ecosystems, wildlife, science, and environmental issues. The reference material describes it as a six-issue-per-year publication.

Controversies

2022
Open letter challenged logging and wood-product positions
A group of 158 environmental, conservation, and social-justice organizations accused TNC of being too supportive of logging interests and wood products as climate solutions. The criticism focused on TNC's participation in the Forest Climate Working Group alongside timber and wood-product companies.
Source
2020
Carbon-credit integrity criticism
Bloomberg reporting questioned whether some corporate purchasers of TNC carbon credits were financing protection of forests that were not actually at sufficient risk of deforestation. The issue contributed to wider debate over additionality and verification in forest-carbon markets.
Source
2019
Sexual-harassment investigation and executive departures
An internal investigation into sexual-harassment allegations became public after President Brian McPeek resigned. Two other senior executives were dismissed, CEO Mark Tercek announced his resignation, and additional leadership changes followed before Sally Jewell became interim CEO.
Source
2016
Criticism of fossil-fuel and corporate relationships
Critics, including Naomi Klein, questioned TNC's relationships with fossil-fuel companies and its receipt of revenue connected with an oil well on conservation-controlled land. TNC said contractual obligations associated with an older lease limited its options and acknowledged that the arrangement was regrettable.
Source
2010
Criticism over BP relationship after Gulf oil spill
Supporters criticized TNC for not severing ties with BP after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The dispute reflected broader concerns about whether corporate partnerships could compromise the organization's environmental independence.
Source
2003
Land transactions and governance controversy
A Washington Post investigation alleged that TNC had sold ecologically important properties with development restrictions to trustees or supporters at discounted prices, creating potential tax benefits and raising questions about governance, compensation, and conflicts of interest. TNC disputed aspects of the reporting, suspended several practices, and commissioned an independent review.
Source

2021Amazon rainforest restoration partnership
Brazil
TNC partnered with Amazon on an initiative intended to compensate local farmers for restoring and protecting rainforest in Pará.
Outcome. The partnership connected private-sector funding with local restoration and forest-protection activity.
Source
2015Seychelles marine conservation debt swap
Seychelles
TNC and NatureVest helped arrange a debt-for-nature transaction involving the Seychelles government, creditor nations, philanthropic funding, and conservation partners. The transaction supported expanded marine spatial protection and related ocean planning.
Outcome. Marine protected waters increased from less than one percent to more than thirty percent according to the reference material.
Source
2008Plant a Billion Trees
Brazil · China · Colombia · Guatemala · Kenya · Tanzania · Mexico · United States
A global tree-planting and forest-restoration initiative targeting landscapes where restoration can support biodiversity, watershed health, and climate objectives. The Brazil effort has focused on restoring native Atlantic Forest trees across heavily deforested areas.
Outcome. The campaign has operated across multiple countries and was linked to broader international tree-planting efforts.
Source

Brand decisions

2015
Use of debt restructuring for marine conservationStrategy
Background
Seychelles needed a mechanism to expand marine protection while addressing sovereign debt constraints.
Action taken
TNC organized a debt-for-nature transaction with government, creditor, philanthropic, and financial partners.
Aftermath
The arrangement supported protection of more than thirty percent of Seychelles' marine waters, according to the reference material.
Source
2014
Creation of NatureVestStrategy
Background
TNC sought to supplement philanthropy and public funding with private capital for conservation outcomes.
Action taken
It created NatureVest as an impact-investing unit with founding sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase.
Aftermath
NatureVest became involved in the Seychelles debt-for-nature transaction and other conservation-finance work.
Stated target for impact-investment capital. At least $1 billion targeted over three years (2014 launch plan)
Source
2008
Expansion into large-scale forest restorationStrategy
Background
Forest loss threatened biodiversity, watersheds, and climate stability in multiple regions.
Action taken
TNC launched Plant a Billion Trees to support restoration in priority forests across several countries.
Aftermath
The campaign became one of TNC's best-known public-facing restoration programs.
Source
2004
Governance reforms after independent reviewStrategy
Background
The 2003 investigation raised concerns about land transactions, corporate logo licensing, resource extraction, employee loans, and nonprofit governance.
Action taken
TNC suspended or restricted several practices and commissioned an independent review that recommended broad ethical and governance reforms.
Aftermath
The review was presented as a foundation for stronger nonprofit accountability standards.
Source
1970
Shift toward science-based biodiversity prioritizationStrategy
Background
TNC's earlier growth centered heavily on acquiring land, while systematic ecological research was comparatively limited.
Action taken
The organization hired its first staff scientist, Robert E. Jenkins Jr., and began developing state inventories of rare species and natural communities.
Aftermath
The inventories evolved into the Natural Heritage Network and influenced TNC's data-driven conservation model.
Source

Recent events

2021
Amazon partnership supported rainforest restoration in Pará[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Campaign
TNC partnered with Amazon on a program intended to compensate local farmers for restoring and protecting rainforest.
2015
Seychelles debt-for-nature transaction finalized[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Other
TNC helped complete a debt restructuring that supported expanded marine protection in the Seychelles.
2014
NatureVest created to develop conservation finance[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Other
TNC established NatureVest with founding sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase to mobilize impact-investment capital for conservation.
1951
The Nature Conservancy incorporated as a U.S. nonprofit[1]The Nature Conservancyen.wikipedia.org
Other
The organization was formally incorporated on October 22, establishing the modern nonprofit entity.

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