The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy (TNC ) is a nonprofit conservation organization in the United States. The organization is based in Arlington Virginia.

The Nature Conservancy is concerned with the protection of plants, animals and biological communities that are representative of the diversity of life on earth (biodiversity), as well as the protection of their habitats on land and in water.

The organization was founded in 1951. Precursor was the 1946 launched Ecologists ' Union, which in turn emerged from the 1917 incurred Committee for the Preservation of Natural Conditions, a group of advocates active environmental protection action under the leadership of Victor Shelford within the Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915.

1987 TNC received one of the first Global 500 Awards UNEP.

The Nature Conservancy has over one million members since 1999 and is active not only in all 50 U.S. states, but also in more than 30 countries. TNC has already been in the U.S. 69,000 sq km areas under protection, over 473,000 km ² worldwide (as of 2007 ). Its members include for example those nature reserves such as the Niobrara Valley Preserve. Annual sales in 2006 amounted to 1.02 billion U.S. dollars. Together with the Sierra Club and Conservation International TNC is one of the three largest conservation organizations in the United States.

The former head of the investment bank Goldman Sachs (1999 to 2006) and later U.S. Treasury (2006 to 2008) in the cabinet of George W. Bush, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., is a longstanding member of the TNC and has at times been chairman. From 2001 to 2008 Steven J. McCormick was chairman of the organization. Since then, she is led by Mark R. Tercek, who also was a manager at Goldman Sachs earlier.

After the Deepwater Horizon disaster in May 2010 TNC fell because of its long-standing cooperation with the responsible for this energy giant BP in the criticism.

Protection state machine

The Nature Conservancy has introduced its own system for species protection status. In this system, G denotes global, national and N S subreginoale, such as the USA, graduations. These letters are followed by:

• H - probably extinct (or h for historical sightings with some hope of re- sighting )
• 1 - endangered ( typically 5 or fewer sightings or less than 1000 agents)
• 2 - at risk (typically 6 to 20 sightings or 1000 to 3000 representative)
• 3 - vulnerable ( rar; typically 21-1000 sightings or 3,000 to 10,000 individuals )
• R or? - National or regional reports, but local status not Available. Together with G1 to G3: local Indeterminate.
• 4 - Apparently secure ( uncommon but not rare; concerns for the future, usually over 100 sightings, and 10,000 copies)
• 5 - safe ( usual high number, widely used )