Systematic, science-based conservation planning is a hallmark of the Conservancy. For biodiversity to thrive, habitats need to be protected, enhanced, or restored not just in the still wild places on the planet but also where people live and make their livelihoods.
Multi-disciplinary planning can help elucidate where the highest priority places are and what needs to happen there – and inform tradeoffs between conservation and other societal values.
Science in Action
Terrestrial | Planning | Technology
Wildfire and Communities
How can land protection and restoration help protect communities from wildfire?
Terrestrial | Marine | Planning
TNC and the U.S. Navy
How can we protect natural resource and coastal military assets from sea level rise?
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Integrating multi-decadal satellite imagery and species distribution models for conservation planning in oak woodlands
M. Brooke Rose, Janet Franklin, H. Scott Butterfield, Paige Rohwer, Amelie Beck, Maria C. Viteri, Jeanette K. Howard, Zachary Principe, Andrea Craig, Daniel Sousa
Oaks are a foundational species, including across TNC preserves like Dye Creek and Randall. They support thousands of organisms. Drought, catastrophic wildfire, land conversion, and climate change are…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Wetlands for Climate Partnership Report
Pietri, D., L. Lowe, P. Felix, M. Passero, A. Mann, P. Wallingford, A. Drici, L. Vaughn, C. Grosso, R. Hayden
Authors are from Eastern Research Group, Inc. and Wetlands for Climate Partnership which includes The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco Estuary Institute, California Trout, and The Pew Charitable…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Regenerative agrivoltaics: challenges and opportunities in Southern California’s Inland Empire region
Kevin B. Grell, Sophie S. Parker
Regenerative agrivoltaics explores the co location of regenerative agriculture and solar energy development as a land sharing strategy to meet growing food, energy, and climate demands. Drawing on a…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Policy is Essential to Curb Plastic Pollution: The Example of California’s Senate Bill 54
Roland Geyer, Sara Orofino, Eleanor Thomas, Darcy Bradley
California generates more landfilled plastic than any other state, making plastic pollution a mounting environmental and public health threat. To confront it, The Nature Conservancy helped pass SB 54,…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Publications & Reports
Demystifying Nature’s Benefits for Hazard Mitigation
Victoria Salgado, Tayler Tharaldson, Shane Parson, Chris Levitz, Adam Drici, Deborah Glaser, Abigail Hart, Alyssa Mann, Piper Wallingford
Nature-based solutions can reduce risks from drought, flooding, and wildfire while providing valuable ecological and community benefits. However, many conservation and restoration practitioners face…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Capturing the Flow of FEMA Funds
Victoria Salgado, Tayler Tharaldson, Chris Levitz, Adam Drici, Deborah Glaser, Abigail Hart, Alyssa Mann, Piper Wallingford
Drought is one of California’s most persistent and costly climate hazards, threatening water supplies, ecosystems, and community resilience. Nature-based solutions offer a promising approach to…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
California’s 30 x 30 Initiative in 2025: A Biodiversity Assessment of the State’s 30x30 Conservation Areas
Carrie Schloss, Jeanette Howard, Rachael Olliff Yang, Nathaniel Roth, Cole Dickison, Alicia Canales, Charlotte K. Stanley, Megan Webb, David Ackerly, Carl Boettiger, Cassie Buhler, Steven Monfort, Gary Bucciarelli, Rachel Meyer, Ariel Levi Simons, Jun Bando, Liz Chamberlin, Sam Veloz, Avery Hill, Rebecca Johnson, Ryan Hill, Amanda Kochanek, Dan Rademacher, Lisa Micheli, Kristeen Penrod, Giovanni Rapacciuolo, Dena Spatz, Daniel Gluesenkamp
2025 marked midpoint in the decade for achieving California’s 30×30 objectives (i.e. the commitment to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by the year 2030)…
2026 | Marine | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Scaling Seagrass Restoration: Applying lessons learned from international seed-based restoration efforts to California.
Racine, P., Grime, B., Aarreberg, A., DeAngelis, B. M., Eddy, N., Goodman, B., Govers, L. L., Hughes, A. R., Jackson, E. L., Lee, L., Lefcheck, J. S., Lusk, B., Merkel, K., Stachowicz, J., Teichberg, M., Ward, M. A., Weltz, A., Wilkins, E., van Zummeren, R., Bradley, D.
These proceedings detail the discussion topics and outcomes resulting from a two-day workshop — the Seagrass Seeding Workshop — held on May 23-24, 2024 in San Francisco, CA. Twenty…
2026 | Marine | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Scaling Seagrass Restoration: Key Challenges and Emerging Opportunities
Grime, B.C., Madan, Y., Orofino, S., DeAngelis, B.M., Eddy, N., Bradley, D.
Seagrasses provide the foundation for one of the most biodiverse and ecologically important ecosystems on Earth, but they are being rapidly destroyed by myriad human activities. To combat these…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
California’s 30 x 30 Initiative at its Midpoint: A Biodiversity Assessment Snapshot of the State’s Conservation Areas
Jeanette Howard, Carrie Schloss , Rachael Olliff Yang, Alicia Canales, Charlotte K. Stanley, Megan Webb, David Ackerly, Carl Boettiger, Cassie Buhler, Steven Monfort, Gary Bucciarelli, Rachel Meyer, Ariel Levi Simons, Jun Bando, Liz Chamberlin, Sam Veloz, Cole Dickison, Avery Hill, Rebecca Johnson, Ryan Hill, Amanda Kochanek, Dan Rademacher, Lisa Micheli, Kristeen Penrod, Giovanni Rapacciuolo, Nathaniel Roth, Dena Spatz, Daniel Gluesenkamp, and collaborators
2025 marked midpoint in the decade for achieving California’s 30×30 objectives (i.e. the commitment to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by the year 2030)…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
The Pace of Solar Progress: How Preexisting Land Use Shapes Permitting Timelines for Utility-Scale Solar in California
Kelsey Johnson, Sarah Skikne, Marybeth Benton, Erica Brand, Brian Cohen, Marty Marquis, Sam Schroeder, Katharine Nester, Terry Wirkkala
California’s future hinges on its ability to rapidly and responsibly develop significant amounts of utility-scale solar. Yet the pace of deployment is increasingly…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports
Exploring Scientific Approaches to Developing Habitat Connectivity Mitigation
Piper Wallingford, Kat Selm, Thomas Biering, Abigail Ramsden
Wildlife crossings are becoming more common, but significant barriers to implementation remain, including high costs, relative novelty, ecological complexity, and opaque regulatory environments.…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
The Future of Floodplains: Restoring Nature, Reducing Risk
Aryeh Cohen, Victoria Salgado, J.D. McLandrich, Nicholas Wellbrock, Deborah Glaser, Piper Wallingford, Charlotte Stanley
Across California, climate change is making floods more frequent, intense, and damaging. Powerful atmospheric rivers now deliver enormous volumes of rainfall over short periods, overwhelming rivers,…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Bridging the Divide: Connecting Climate Resilient Roads and Wildlife Pathways
Cara Lacey, Trish Smith, Charlotte Stanley, Deborah Glaser, Piper Wallingford
California stands at a pivotal crossroads where climate resilience, infrastructure modernization, and habitat connectivity must be advanced together. Bridging the Divide offers a roadmap for how…
2025 | Freshwater | Planning | Technology | Microsite
Functional Flows Calculator
Kirk Klausmeyer, Bronwen Stanford, Nathan Enerson, Steven Sonvisen, Falk Schuetzenmeister, and Jam Hamidi
To protect water for nature, we first need to understand current flow conditions in our rivers, and how that flow is altered from natural conditions. Under the California Environmental Flows Framework…
2025 | Freshwater | Planning | Technology | Microsite
California North Coast Water Availability Tool
Jennifer Carah, Ben Kerr, Mia van Docto, Anders Farr, Kirk Klausmeyer, Steven Sonvisen, Siena Testa, and Jam Hamidi
Water is essential for California’s people, economy, and environment, yet water availability for people and nature is not well understood. This tool efficiently assesses water availability in…
2025 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
The wildlife attitude-acceptability framework’s potential to inform human dimensions of wildlife science and practice
Alexander L. Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf, Lara J. Brenner, Holly K. Nesbitt, Conor N. Phelan, Michael S. Lewis, Justin A. Gude
The long-term survival of large carnivores like wolves, grizzly bears and mountain lions depends not just on ecological factors like habitat, but also on social factors like human acceptance of their…
2025 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports
Conservation planning for climate change vulnerability across the islands of the Californias
Lara J. Brenner, Piper D. Wallingford, Nick D. Holmes, John J. Knapp, John M. Randall, Scott A. Morrison
Island ecosystems are especially vulnerable to climate change, yet planning for these impacts remains challenging due to a lack of available data. This paper reports on a collaborative workshop across…
2025 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
High streamflow enhances population growth rates for Bank Swallows
Golet G.H., Kristen E. Dybala, Joeseph G. Silvera, Adam Henderson, Jennifer Isola, David H. Wright, Ron Melcer Jr., and Danika Tsao.
Lowland alluvial rivers are rich in biodiversity, yet many are highly degraded and no longer support robust natural communities. Over the past few decades, Bank Swallows, which depend upon these…
2025 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
The Value of Community Science Data for Conservation Decision-making
A.D. Binley, J.O. Hanson, O.J. Robinson, G.H. Golet, J.R. Bennett
Monitoring biodiversity is critical for informing conservation but can also deplete resources available for management actions if the time and money available are limited. Freely available…