We are optimists about Earth’s future. The Nature Conservancy envisions a world where people and nature thrive together.
But today our world is at a crucial juncture. We will soon be nine billion people sharing one planet. A development boom is lifting billions out of poverty, but increasing demands for food, water and energy are stressing nature to its limits. We are trapped in a vicious cycle in which we over-exploit and degrade nature, in turn impoverishing life for people. We see another way forward – one that accounts for nature’s full value in all the decisions we make. It’s about creating a virtuous cycle, in which we take care of nature so that nature can continue to take care of us.
Pursuing Global Solutions:
In response to current Global Challenges, we will pursue Global Solutions at the intersection of nature’s and people’s needs. The Solutions are areas where we will develop specific strategies and link them to our place-based work at the system scale. These are the leverage points that take our work to a greater relevance beyond the acres we can conserve directly.
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This report summarizes selected stream studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since the late 1990s, while also drawing on scientific literature and datasets from other sources. Previous national mercury assessments by other agencies have focused largely on lakes. Although numerous studies of mercury in streams have been conducted at local and regional scales, recent USGS studies provide the most comprehensive, multimedia assessment of streams across the United States, and yield insights about the importance of watershed characteristics relative to mercury inputs. Information from other environments (lakes, wetlands, soil, atmosphere, glacial ice) also is summarized to help understand how mercury varies in space and time.
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Basic NEMO (Nonpoint source pollution Education for Municipal Officials) presentations, fact sheets, and soap box articles regarding the link between land use and water quality. NEMO has come to stand for outreach programs that provide resources that allow for good land use planning and site design that balances growth AND environmental protection.
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An online resource for Maine’s common native and invasive aquatic plants and animals.
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This document reflects planning efforts by the Executive Office of the President to design federal policy for the use of water resources.
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Map of urban wetlands and green spaces along the Mississippi River at Davenport, IA and Rock Island, IL
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A Prezi, interactive concept mapping, presentation on flood management in the Mississippi River Basin with photographs of sites visited by the ATEEC Fellows during the 2010 institute.
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This case study of low impact development efforts in The Village At Springbrook Farms in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, includes a six-minute video and the results of five non-structural “best management practices†(BMPs) incorporated into the final site design. This Web site includes links to seven other case studies involving stormwater management.
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A 13-chapter manual on water quality and assessment in Iowa.
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This Web site offers a variety of self-paced training modules that represent a basic and broad introduction to the watershed management field.
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