Nature Conservatory, The

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, USA·FOUNDED 1951·nature.org

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental nonprofit headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, working to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends, founded through grassroots action in 1951.

Overview

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental nonprofit organization whose mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, TNC works directly or through partner organizations in more than 80 countries and territories, supported by more than 1 million members and a staff of nearly 6,000, including more than 1,000 scientists. TNC is registered as a tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

History

TNC's origins trace to the Ecological Society of America (ESA), a research-focused scientific society formed in 1915. In 1917, ESA members formed a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study, led by ecologist Victor Shelford, amid internal debate over whether the society should move beyond publishing research to actively preserve natural areas. After that committee dissolved, Shelford and a small group of scientists formed the Ecologists Union in 1946, resolving to take "direct action" to save threatened natural areas. That group incorporated as The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization, in the District of Columbia; according to Denver Public Library archival records held in its Special Collections, the organization was founded September 11, 1950, and formally incorporated October 22, 1951, with ecologist Dr. Stanley A. Cain serving as its first president.

TNC's first major land-protection effort began on Christmas Eve 1954, when neighbors of a 60-acre forest in Bedford, New York faced an ultimatum to buy the land or see it developed; community members pledged life-insurance policies and held bake sales to help finance the purchase. TNC completed the acquisition of the property, the Mianus River Gorge, in 1955, financing $7,500 of the purchase. TNC's last unpaid president, botanist Dr. Richard H. Goodwin, completed his second term in 1966, after which a Ford Foundation grant allowed the organization to hire its first full-time, paid president, Charles "Henry" Foster. Over the following decades TNC grew from a small network of scientists into a much larger land-management organization, helping preserve more than 1 million acres in the U.S. by 1976, launching an International Conservation Program in Latin America in 1980, opening its first office outside the Western Hemisphere in Palau in 1990, and seeing its membership surpass 1 million in 1999. TNC extended operations into Africa in 2006 and Europe in 2008, and the organization marked its 75th anniversary in 2026.

Notable works

In 2021, TNC announced its 2030 Goals, described by the organization as its most ambitious plan to date to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and co-founded Enduring Earth, a conservation-finance partnership with the Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund and ZOMALAB. That same year, TNC and partners helped protect 236,000 acres of the Belize Maya Forest. In 2020, TNC received a $100 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to support natural climate solutions work. In 2025, the TNC-championed High Seas Treaty was ratified by 60 countries, the first legal agreement to regulate and protect the high seas. TNC reports having helped protect more than 125 million acres of land historically and operating more than 100 marine conservation projects; recent large-scale transactions include clearing the way for the 2004 designation of Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado and a 2025 agreement to purchase four dams on Maine's Kennebec River.

Key personnel

• Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Morris

Morris became CEO effective May 18, 2020, succeeding interim CEO Sally Jewell. She previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Conservation International and began her career teaching in Namibia before working in microfinance at Women's World Banking.

Audience

TNC's work reaches a global membership of more than 1 million donors and supporters. Its staff of nearly 6,000, including over 1,000 scientists, carries out direct conservation impact in 39 countries and territories and works through partner organizations in an additional 44, for a combined reach of more than 80 countries and territories.

Location and contact info

Headquarters 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22203

Phone (703) 841-5300

Tax ID 53-0242652 (501(c)(3))