Garden Large » Land Conservancies

FrOGS Annual Great Swamp Celebration and Art Show Returns to Pawling, NY

Julia Brine — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:17:11 +0000

A wonderful community experience:

October 22, 11am-5pm and October 23, 1pm-4pm, at the Frances Ryan Thomas Memorial Center of Christ Church on Quaker Hill in Pawling, NY.

Join the Brines and other FrOGS to celebrate the diverse beauty of our local, majestic wetland. Enjoy work by local artists and artisans, educational displays, food, and activities.

FrOGS (Friends of the Great Swamp) is an active voice for the protection of the Great Swamp, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in New York State.

Great Nature Conservancy Landscape Drainage Video

Duncan Brine — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:04:10 +0000

The large scale farm ditches shown here might successfully influence the design of smaller scale ditches.

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/indiana/howwework/art30290.html

Exemplary Biodiversity Habitat Mapping in Dutchess County, NY by Hudsonia

Duncan Brine — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:31:02 +0000

Erik Kiviat’s Hudsonia is an important resource for environmental research and education in the Hudson Valley.

Get an eyeful of his perspective here.

http://www.townofdover.us/HudsoniaPresentation.pdf

First World Wide Water Map

Duncan Brine — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:59:30 +0000

Global Freshwater Team – World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy Release Map of Freshwater Systems
- Freshwater Ecoregions of the World divides the world’s freshwater systems into 426 distinct conservation units, many of which are rich in species but under increasing pressure from human population growth, rising water use, and habitat alteration.
- - This is the first study to compile data on freshwater species — including fish, amphibians, crocodiles and turtles — for nearly all of the world’s inland water habitats
  - Almost 18,000 species have been mapped and placed into freshwater ecoregions. This species list includes 13,400 fish, 4,000 amphibians, 300 turtles, and 20 crocodile species and their relatives.
  - About half of all freshwater fish are endemic, or found in only one ecoregion.
- - Excessive water use for agriculture, industry, drinking and livestock are placing freshwater ecosystems in 55 ecoregions under high stress, threatening the species and habitats.
  - In another 59 ecoregions more than 50 percent of their area has already been converted from natural habitats to cropland and urban areas.
- Until now there were no data on global freshwater biodiversity synthesized in a way that was useful to conservation.
- The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.
- Known in the United States as World Wildlife Fund and recognized worldwide by its panda logo, WWF leads international efforts to protect endangered species and their habitats and to conserve the diversity of life on Earth. Now in its fifth decade, WWF, the global conservation organization, works in more than 100 countries around the world.

Grant to Conservancy Protects Wildlife in 5 States

Duncan Brine — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:03:00 +0000

The Nature Conservancy in Montana – Grant will help protect Montana’s wildlife habitat – Annotated
- Doris Duke Charitable Foundation funds conservation in the Rocky Mountain West
- My step-father, John Hutchens loved Montana and wrote a wonderful book, One Man’s Montana.
- HELENA, MT — April 9, 2008 — A $13 million grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to The Nature Conservancy will result in conservation of critical wildlife habitat in the Rocky Mountain West.
- The grant is focused on helping five Rocky Mountain states implement their state wildlife action plans. An estimated $11 million of the total grant will be devoted to habitat protection and will be matched on a five-to-one basis, resulting in more than $55 million over the next three years for wildlife habitat conservation in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
- The Conservancy plans to work with and re-grant some of the funds to the Trust for Public Land, the Conservation Fund, the Prickly Pear Land Trust and the Flathead Land Trust. These groups will in turn work with local and state partners to purchase conservation easements and lands from willing landowners.
- Conservation easements have become an important tool for landowners who want to keep their lands in ranching, farming and forestry, while protecting important wildlife habitat. Land trusts and agencies have worked with landowners to place more than 1.5 million acres of privately owned Montana land under conservation easements.
- “A key goal of these plans is to keep common species common and other species off the endangered species list by protecting important habitat while it is still cost effective,” said Jeff Hagener, Director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
- The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit conservation organization that conserves critical habitats for plants, animals and natural communities. The Conservancy’s Montana chapter, based in Helena, has community-based programs around the state. It has worked with landowners since 1979 to conserve more than 600,000 acres of land in Montana. For more information, visit Nature.org/Montana
  
  The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (www.ddcf.org) is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.

A Vision to Plant One Billion Trees by 2015 in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

Duncan Brine — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:43:11 +0000

Nature Conservancy News Room – The Nature Conservancy Launches “Plant a Billion Trees Campaign” with Planet Green Annotated

Today, The Nature Conservancy launched the “Plant a Billion Trees Campaign” at www.plantabillion.org to restore and plant one billion trees by 2015 in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the greatest repositories of biodiversity on Earth.

Just a small fraction of the size of the great Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic Forest is home to 1,180 vertebrate species – mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds – representing 5% of the vertebrates on Earth.

To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees Campaign, visit: www.plantabillion.org.

Nature Conservancy Benefit in Hearst Tower on Monday, April 28th

Duncan Brine — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:54:41 +0000

The Nature Conservancy in New York – Nature Conservancy Spring Gala to Focus on Healthy Forests, Green Buildings as Key to Climate Change Annotated

Goal is to slash deforestation, which accounts for up to 25% of global carbon emissions each year

New York, NY — April 1, 2008 — U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Chairman of the Board of The Nature Conservancy Henry M. “Hank” Paulson and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will join leaders from the world’s top financial institutions and other corporations to fight climate change by saving the earth’s forests and promoting the global development of green buildings.

More than 400 prominent New Yorkers will gather with Secretary Paulson and Mayor Bloomberg in Hearst Tower on Monday, April 28^th

“Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge that our world faces today and emissions from deforestation and forest degradation exceed those from every car, truck, train, ship and plane in the world combined.

says Stephanie Meeks, acting CEO of The Nature Conservancy.

“Rethinking how we both generate and use energy is a crucial step towards a sustainable business and a sustainable planet,” added Jerry I. Speyer, Chairman and CEO of Tishman Speyer, the developers of the Hearst Tower and owner of the city’s largest solar energy generation station in Manhattan. He explained that worldwide 30-40% of all primary energy is used in buildings, making the development of green buildings a critical piece in sustaining our world.

Among the evening’s highlighted projects is the Conservancy’s effort to help plant one billion trees along Brazil’s Atlantic Coast to restore the decimated forest and protect the watershed of the region’s 80 million inhabitants.

Closer to home, the Conservancy will showcase the organization’s work to protect New York’s forests and push for strong state and Federal legislation to regulate emissions.

The Hearst Tower, with its distinctive triangular frame, opened in New York City in late 2006 as the city’s first occupied Gold LEED® certified office building. The 46-story, 856,000-square-foot Midtown structure is defined by vertical and horizontal energy-saving, diamond-shaped bands of bright stainless steel.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. In New York, The Nature Conservancy has helped protect more than 500,000 acres in the past 50 years.

What’s More Urgent Than Climate Change for Conservation?

Duncan Brine — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:40:12 +0000

Conservation Science at The Nature Conservancy – Will Land Changes Erode Conservation Gains? Annotated

Climate change and its ecological and societal impacts are finally receiving widespread attention. But a related and arguably more urgent issue still needs more focus: land use and land-use change.

Six Artists Transported by the Shawangunk Mountains Create a Multi-Canvas Painting

Duncan Brine — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:00:34 +0000

The Nature Conservancy in New York – Six Local Artists Take Inspiration from the Shawangunk Mountains to Create a Multi-Canvas Painting Annotated

Proceeds to Benefit Sam’s Point Preserve and The Nature Conservancy

Cragsmoor, NY — March 27, 2008 — On Saturday, May 10th from 4-8 pm, six local artists, CRAGSMOOR SIX (C-6), taking inspiration from the natural beauty of Sam’s Point Preserve, will create a spontaneous collaborative painting, comprised of 90 individual canvases joined as one.

As the painting takes shape the audience will be invited to bid on individual canvases, while enjoying refreshments from acclaimed area restaurants and wineries.

“Art fueled the land conservation movement historically in the Hudson Valley, and today artists continue to engage people in the beauty of our region,” said Cara Lee, director of the Shawangunk Ridge Program for The Nature Conservancy’s Eastern New York Chapter.

For more information about the event, please contact Heidi Wagner at (845) 647-7989 x101, or hwagner@tnc.org