Dale Turner

The Nature Conservancy: Maintaining Pieces and Processes on the Third Planet

The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit neighbor of PSI, with an office just a block to the west. We operate exclusively on the third planet of this solar system, working to maintain the full suite of native life forms by protecting the abiotic systems and processes that they require. The organization was created in 1951 by a group of scientists who recognized the need for direct action to protect habitat for rare and endangered species. Since then, our mission and activities have grown global, in recognition of the scale of the issues we address.

Conservation priorities are developed using a wide variety of biological and physical data sets, combining species' distributions and anthropogenic constraints in an optimization algorithm to identify the minimum set of landscapes needed. Guided by those priorities, we then pursue conservation strategies based on the best available science and the interests of local communities. We work through collaborative partnerships to achieve lasting, measurable results for the benefit of plants, animals, and ecosystems as well as people.

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