The conservation of healthy, productive forests— forests that sustain economies and people’s basic needs for living, as well as plants and animals—is forests at risk essential for a sustainable planet. With a growing global population and rising demand for forest and agricul- tural products, the world’s forests—and the quality of the water we drink—are at risk. Healthy forests act like giant Forests are essential for sponges, preventing erosion by soaking life on Earth. up rain and snow and gradually releas- ing it into streams. They also remove • Rich in plants and animals, beauty and pollutants before they enter waterways. variety, and natural resources, forests forests of the world supply people everywhere with fiber, food One-third of the world’s largest cities and fresh water. get most or all of their water from forested protected areas • Forests help keep Earth’s fragile atmosphere Sheltering and verdant, forests nurture and sustain life on Earth, providing people in balance. Each year, approximately 32 million ture or developed. The recent global everywhere with wood fiber, food and fresh water. More than one billion people • Forests filter fresh water and protect against acres of natural forest—an area nearly interest in biofuels derived from plants, floods and erosion. living in extreme poverty depend on forests for their subsistence. Forests give us a equal to the size of Florida—are lost to including sugarcane and oil palm, is . accounts triggering vast deforestation in Brazil, •  Forests provide outdoor recreation and world rich in plants and animals, in beauty, in variety. Into their depths, we venture for much of this loss. Up to 30 per- Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia and escape for millions of people. time and again to refresh our spirits. Forests release oxygen and store carbon cent of hardwood lumber and plywood elsewhere. The world’s forests are dioxide, keeping in balance Earth’s fragile atmosphere. traded globally is of suspicious origin. under increasing stress. In Indonesia, for example, an estimated A degraded and fragmented forest dies 70 percent of timber exports are illegal, a death by a thousand cuts. The inva- • According to the Global Forest Watch, we have lost nearly half of the planet’s original Nearly half of the world’s original forest costing the country $3.7 billion in lost sion of pests and diseases, the removal forest cover. cover is gone, and deforestation and revenue annually. of key tree species, the alteration of the degradation continue to take a heavy natural fire regime, and the cumulative The Conservancy toll. Each year, millions of acres of Once high-value timber is removed, impacts of all lead to offers hope. forests are often converted for agricul- unhealthy forests. forests forestlands are razed, often illegally, and converted to agriculture or developed. • Through partnerships and direct on-the- ground action, we have achieved striking Deforestation is second only to the forest-conservation results in the United burning of fossil fuels as a source of States. carbon dioxide emissions that cause Sustaining Wildlife, •  Now, we need your help to achieve lasting, global climate change. how you can help Economies and measurable results in forest conservation around the world. While we cannot halt all forest exploi- a Stable Climate tation, The Nature Conservancy can Through the Campaign for a Sustainable Planet, The Nature Conservancy is Help the Conservancy save help shape how and where forests are working to create a world in which people and nature live in greater balance, a our forests. Together, we can ensure used and managed for the benefit of world where our climate is stable and where our most vital natural resources— the long-term protection, sustainable care people and nature. The conservation of forests, grasslands, fisheries and fresh water—are healthy, valued and secure. and stewardship of our forests for the benefit of plants, animals and humans. healthy, productive forests—forests that sustain economies and people’s basic Protecting the forests of the world is vital to achieving this vision, and represents needs for living, as well as plants and one of the greatest challenges and opportunities in global conservation today. animals—is essential for a sustainable planet. Deforestation’s contribution to Please join us in preserving our planet’s forests by making an investment in climate change makes this work even The Nature Conservancy’s forest priorities. more urgent. The Nature Conservancy 4245 N. Fairfax Dr., Ste. 100 Image credits: (cover) © Sergio Pucci/TNC (back cover) © Mark Godfrey, (inside right flap) top left: brown howler Arlington, VA 22203-3161 moneky © Lynda Richardson, top right © Diego Ochoa/TNC, bottom left © Ze Paiva/Vista Imagens, bottom right: red- Phone: (703) 841-5300 cockaded woodpecker © Arkansas Commission, (inside front cover) © Mark Godfrey/TNC, (inside back cover) © Peter Welles, (inside right page) bottom left © Haroldo Palo, Jr., top and bottom right © Scott Warren nature.org irreplaceable habitats for the most ening national protected areas systems, robust populations of predators and securing conservation agreements on at work strategies their prey in the lower 48 states. private lands, promoting ranching Conserving these forests requires practices that improve production and The Conservancy pursues five major strategies to achieve effective conservation in engaging forest-product companies enhance forest connectivity and inte- in the world’s forested landscapes around the world. and private landowners to create links grating criteria into local among publicly owned protected areas and national development policies. and re-establishing wildlife corridors Expanding Protected Areas: wood fiber. One far-reaching tool is the highest priority lands. Reforesta- in areas such as Glacier National Park. of South Protected areas such as national parks forest certification, which allows busi- tion involves three stages: the collection America: Encompassing portions forests and areas serve as refuges nesses and consumers to choose, with and cultivation of seedlings that often Southern Coastal Plain of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the for plants and animals, including wild confidence, wood and paper products are unique to a particular place; the Forests: Once extending from Atlantic Forest is considered the most species whose genes can yield new independently verified as having come planting of multiple native tree species to Texas, the South’s extensive highly threatened ecosystem on Earth. medicines and better crops. Increas- from well-managed forests. to ensure functioning ecosystems rather coastal plain forests, especially longleaf Conservation success in the Atlantic ingly, such wild forests are valued as than mere clusters of trees; and the and shortleaf pine ecosystems, have Forest means preserving the 7 percent storehouses of carbon dioxide and thus Financing Forest regular maintenance and monitoring of dwindled to only 4 percent of their of the forest that remains and restoring a vital global climate regulator. The Conservation: Debt-for-nature the new trees. original range. Protecting and restoring key portions to their former grandeur Conservancy promotes the designation swaps, ecotourism and water-user fees, the last and largest tracts of these forests through a large-scale of new protected areas and the sustain- business investments and carbon funds Promoting Forest Health: means improving fire management, en- program to plant 1 billion trees. Degraded forests are less resilient able funding and effective management are a few of the tools we use to generate couraging sustainable forestry, reforest- to stresses and more susceptible to of new and existing protected areas. We millions of dollars for forest conserva- ing key areas, utilizing easements and Amazon Native Lands: also work to engage local communities tion. The Conservancy designs sustain- drought, insect and disease epidemics, creating new protected areas. Covering portions of Bolivia, Brazil, ably managed forests, strengthening in management. able financing mechanisms, partners invasion by non-native plants and Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezu- protected-area management and assist- with private sector investors and animals and catastrophic . The Forest Bridge of the ela, the Amazon Basin represents the Conservancy works with public and ing landowners in land-use planning. Encouraging Sustainable creates financial incentives to improve Americas: The Forest Bridge planet’s largest tropical rainforest. To Harvests in Working forest management and protection. private partners to advance responsible stretches from the Sierra Madre be successful, conservation work must China’s Forests: The Forests: The Conservancy employs forest management and abatement Occidental in northern Mexico to the address the economic and social con- forests of Yunnan shelter a host of rare market-based approaches to achieve Reforesting Key Lands: Due strategies, as well as to secure public wilds of Panama’s Darien Gap. Conser- cerns of indigenous peoples, land-use and endangered plants and animals sustainable harvests in forests desig- to the high cost of restoration, the funding to improve forest health. vation of this vast, diverse region means planning and management of indig- and are home to 15 ethnic minorities. nated primarily for the production of Conservancy reserves reforestation for creating new protected areas, imple- enous reserves, sustainable livelihoods Conserving Yunnan’s forests requires From the First Nations menting forest certification programs, and the need for large-scale investment working with local partners to curb the of Canada to coffee improving fire management, and in indigenous lands conservation. unsustainable collection of wood for generating public and private support fuel and building materials, promoting growers in Colombia, for forest conservation. Highland Forests of East alternative sources of energy and green campaign projects : From Kenya’s mountain the people who depend building techniques and establishing Forest Parks of the Tropical on forests for sustenance Through innovative partnerships, the Conservancy is working to protect many peaks to the shores of Lake Tanganyika, a pilot national parks system that Andes: Conservation of the tropical this vital oasis for chimpanzees and en- integrates conservation and sustainable are powerful allies in of Earth’s most extraordinary forests. Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, demic birds is increasingly threatened. development goals. forest conservation. Peru and Venezuela requires strength- Protecting it, as well as the water source for the Eastern Rift Valley’s burgeon- Forest Trade: The widespread The Nature Conservancy The Forests of Canada: From to central Alabama, the Appalachians ing population, requires addressing the adoption of legal and sustainable forest works with governments, the largest remaining coastal temperate harbor some of the most diverse forests impacts of agriculture and development, management practices and trade in rainforest on Earth to the 1.6 billion- and rivers in . The driven by the region’s poverty. communities, corporations, forest products lies at the heart of acre boreal forest, Canada offers oppor- Conservancy will acquire, conserve or this project. The Conservancy works investors, landowners and tunities for conservation on an unimagi- secure effective management of 1.7 Forests of the Southeast to combat illegal logging, increase the million acres, address the impacts of land managers to advance nable scale. To be successful, work in Asian Archipelago: Vast and supply of and demand for Forest Canada must address the economic and climate change and mitigate threats rich in biological diversity, the forests of Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified economically viable and cultural concerns of indigenous peoples, from invasive species and harmful southeast , which include the islands wood, strengthen U.S. and international environmentally sound the management of large-scale protected forest insects. of Borneo and Papua, are under siege by trade policies and encourage businesses, areas and the sustainable harvest of rising global demand for tropical wood investors and consumers to favor management solutions that working forests. Northern Rockies: From the and wood products. Reversing defor- FSC-certified products. benefit people and nature. rugged peaks of northwestern Wyo- estation trends requires curbing illegal The Appalachians: Stretching ming to the majestic Canadian Rockies, logging, promoting trade from sustain- more than 1,500 miles from Canada the Northern Rockies support