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?
2024 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Quantitative methods for integrating climate adaptation strategies into spatial decision support models
Nicholas A. Povak, Patricia N. Manley, Kristen N. Wilson
This study presents a methodology to integrate spatial assessments of current and future forest conditions to understand the potential to achieve desired conditions under climate change with ongoing…
2023 | | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Quantifying the smoke-related public health trade-offs of forest management
Claire L. Schollaert, Jihoon Jung, Joseph Wilkins, Ernesto Alvarado, Jill Baumgartner, Julien Brun, Tania Busch Isaksen, Jamie M. Lydersen, Miriam E. Marlier, Julian D. Marshall, Yuta J. Masuda, Charles Maxwell, Christopher W. Tessum, Kristen N. Wilson, Nicholas H. Wolff, June T. Spector
By modeling six scenarios of forest management, wildfire, and health impacts from smoke from 1981-2020, we found that moderate amounts of prescribed fire can decrease harmful particulate matter…
2023 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Contrasting management paradigms for pronghorn in the arid Southwest and their northern range: a review
William T. Bean, H. Scott Butterfield, Craig Fiehler, David Hacker, Jeanette K. Howard, Russell Namitz, Brandon Swanson, Thomas J. Batter
TNC launched a Water for Wildlife project motivated by understanding the importance of standing free water across the season for wildlife in general, but most importantly for those species sensitive…
2023 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Interstate 15 Wildlife Crossing Design Considerations for Focal Wildlife Species. Santa Ana-Palomar Mountains Linkage Southern California
Trish Smith, Cheryl Brehme, Jill Carpenter, Nancy Frost, Megan Jennings, Barbara Kus, Scott Quinnell, Spring Strahm, T. Winston Vickers
The Nature Conservancy and the California Department of Transportation are planning 3 wildlife crossing infrastructure projects along a 3-mile stretch of Interstate 15 (I-15) in the Santa Ana-Palomar…
2023 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Prioritizing Bird Conservation Areas in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Kristen E. Dybala, Kristin. A. Sesser, Matthew E. Reiter, W. David Shuford, Gregory. H. Golet, Catherine Hickey, and Thomas Gardali
Conserving birds is a key goal for management of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta ecosystem, one of the largest estuaries on the Pacific Coast, and is likely to have effects for populations well…
2023 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Exploring interacting effects of forest restoration on wildfire risk, hydropower, and environmental flows
Benjamin P. Bryant, Tessa Maurer, Phillip C. Saksa, John D. Herman, Kristen N. Wilson, Edward Smith
The authors of this study analyzed how wildfires and forest restoration, specifically thinning and prescribed fire being implemented in the French Meadows Project in the central Sierra Nevada, could…
2023 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
A resilient and connected network of sites to sustain biodiversity under a changing climate
Mark G. Anderson, Melissa Clark, Arlene P. Olivero, and D. Richard Cameron
In response to biodiversity loss, scientists have called for the protection of well-connected systems of protected areas covering 30 to 50% of the planet. However, as climate change drives shifts in…
2023 | Marine | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
U.S. exempted fishing permits: Role, value, and lessons learned for adaptive fisheries management
Lindsay Bonito, Lyall Bellquist, Alexis M. Jackson, Kate Kauer, Mary G. Gleason, Jono Wilson, Stuart Sandin
Experimentation supports adaptive and climate-ready fisheries management in numerous contexts. Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) enable fisheries participants, scientists, and managers to…
2023 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Stormwater Management
Kristina Kreter, Shona Ganguly, Rowan Roderick-Jones, and Kelsey Jessup
New strategies to address urban runoff management with nature-based approaches offer promising solutions to alleviating climate change impacts—like urban heat, water shortages, and…
2023 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Expanding the Role of Nature-based Solutions in FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Programs: Lessons and Recommendations
The Nature Conservancy, radbridge, Earth Economics
FEMA increasingly recognizes and emphasizes the role of nature-based solutions (NBS) for building community resilience to hazards like flood, wildfire, and drought, and the agency has made remarkable…
2023 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Publications & Reports
Valuing the Flood Reduction Benefits of Marsh Restoration
Taylor-Burns, R., Heard, S., Beck, M. W.
There is growing evidence for the beneficial role that wetlands can play in reducing flood risk, but in many urban estuaries, coastal development has resulted in dramatic habitat loss and…
2023 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Cattle Grazing Across The Nature Conservancy in California’s Conservation Estate
Butterfield, H.S., J. Howard, Z. Principe, E. Inlander, S. Sweet, A. Craig, R. Mason, J. Knapp , M. Katkowski
For over 300 years, cattle and sheep have been grazed in California, from the Rancho era continuing to the present day. The Nature Conservancy has a long history in California and across the western…
2023 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Informing waterfowl conservation by determining what habitats are least resilient during times of drought
Erin E. Conlisk, Kristin B. Byrd, Elliot Matchett, Austin A. Lorenz, Michael Casazza, Gregory H. Golet, Mark D. Reynolds, Kristin A. Sesser, and Matthew E. Reiter
Landscape-scale wetland conservation requires understanding how wildlife responds to dynamic freshwater habitat availability. This study examined this for dabbling ducks by comparing habitat…
2022 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Learning to Live with Fire in Forest Communities
The Nature Conservancy
A 2022 report, Learning to Live with Fire in Forest Communities, highlights the science and benefits of fire-resilient community design. TNC partnered with key stakeholders in the…
2022 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Environmental & Historic Preservation Primer for Nature-Based Hazard Mitigation
The Nature Conservancy, FEMA, Nonlinear Ventures, radbridge, Earth Economics
To address the increasing risk of catastrophic flooding, wildfire and other climate-related threats, communities are pursuing nature-based solutions (NBS) and seeking FEMA hazard mitigation funds to…
2022 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Blueprint for Resilience: Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative
Patricia N. Manley, Nicholas A. Povak, Kristen Wilson, Kristen Wilson, Mary Lou Fairweather, Vivian Griffey
The Blueprint is a set of strategy maps that identify opportunities for forest protection and adaptation across a 2.4-million-acre region of the central Sierra Nevada. It uses a novel application of…
2022 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Stress Testing the BCA Toolkit with Nature-based Solutions: Observations and Recommendations for FEMA
The Nature Conservancy, Earth Economics
FEMA requires that hazard mitigation projects must be cost-effective to the federal government, as demonstrated in a Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA), which compares the present value of a project’s…
2022 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Informing shorebird conservation by determining when and how much habitat is needed in wet and dry years
Gregory. H. Golet, Kristen. E. Dybala, Matthew. E. Reiter, Kristin. A. Sesser, Mark Reynolds, Rodd Kelsey
Shorebirds have declined precipitously in North America in the last 50 years, primarily due to the loss of wetlands. Incentive programs that pay farmers to create temporary wetland habitat on idled…
2022 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Prioritizing actions: spatial action maps for conservation
Heather Tallis, Joe Fargione, Edward Game, Rob McDonald, Leandro Baumgarten, Nirmal Bhagabati, Rane Cortez, Bronson Griscom, Jonathan Higgins, Christina M. Kennedy, Joe Kiesecker, Timm Kroeger, Trina Leberer, Jennifer McGowan, Lisa Mandle, Yuta J. Masuda, Scott Morrison, Sally Palmer, Rebecca Shirer, Priya Shyamsundar, Nicholas H.Wolff, and Hugh P. Possingham
Spatial analysis is a powerful tool in conservation planning. Yet it is often under-deployed as a means of elucidating which conservation actions may deliver the highest return on investment. This…