Annual Report 2025

Dear Friends, Partners, and Supporters,

Nature is a complex, beautiful web, with every ecosystem and all its inhabitants interwoven. Conservation work mirrors this interdependence. Caring for one another and the planet requires coordination, trust and shared purpose.

That’s why collaboration is at the core of how The Nature Conservancy operates. Collaboration fosters understanding and mutual respect, and it is most effective when each participant is able to contribute unique strengths.

Our Cumberland Forest Community Fund is a shining example of this approach. For years now, the innovative 253,000-acre Cumberland Forest Project in Southwest Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky has enabled TNC and our partners to support local projects that are making communities stronger. To date, $480,000 has been awarded to community ventures in Southwest Virginia that embrace conservation and economic diversification. The results are apparent across the region, from new trails and enhanced outdoor recreation sites to sustainable solutions for managing stormwater.

Partnerships like these are key as we increase the pace and scale of conservation to meet the challenges of the moment. As I reflect on this past year and look ahead to the next, my optimism is bolstered by opportunities such as our coalition with TNC colleagues in Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina to reduce carbon emissions through nature-based solutions.

Thanks to a significant grant from the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program, we are working with colleagues and partners across state lines to improve forest management, restore peatlands and enhance tidal wetlands. These ecosystems hold the greatest promise for carbon sequestration, and they are also important for recreation and community resilience.

When people come together, we can accomplish so much. Whether you live in one of our state’s vibrant cities or in a small coastal or mountain town, enjoy hunting or hiking, or find renewal in sand between your toes or the sound of wind in the pines, nature is the great unifier. Thank you for all that you do to demonstrate your love of our lands, waters, communities and one another.

The quiet community of Oyster sits on the seaside of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The name speaks to the long history that the waterfront has played in the economic and cultural fabric of the region—and the state at large. Coastal storms and tidal flooding are also part of the area’s heritage, but today, climate change and habitat loss are accelerating their impacts. In Oyster, places that flood occasionally today are projected to experience chronic or even daily flooding by mid-century with sea-level rise.

In response to these flooding concerns, TNC partnered with Northampton County to facilitate a community-driven Coastal Adaptation and Resilience Plan for Oyster. With the help of community members, TNC and Northampton County formed a Resilience Steering Committee composed of interested stakeholder groups, including residents, property owners, the aquaculture industry, local government, county planners and research representatives to ensure a community-driven planning effort.

“The result is a plan that supports the town’s vision for the future as a thriving community of people and nature that is safe, cohesive and maintains a working waterfront for commercial and recreational fishing, as well as scientific research, in the face of rising sea levels,” says Susan Bates, TNC coastal science program manager.

Continue reading on page 16 of our 2025 Annual Report.

For millions of years, fire has shaped the diversity of life on Earth. Using sophisticated fire practices, Indigenous peoples cared for forests, prairies and other ecosystems. Without such intentional stewardship, including the use of controlled burns, these vital landscapes degrade over time or vanish entirely.

That’s why The Nature Conservancy and partners across 18 states are working to bring fire back to the land. TNC’s Appalachians program is focused on building capacity, fostering collaboration and allocating resources to expand controlled burns in each state within the region, each with its own diverse fire management capabilities and needs.

“Our goal of improving management on nearly 4 million acres across the Appalachians by 2030 depends heavily on scaling up this work with partners, including Tribes, state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, contractors, and others,” says Blair Smyth, director of the Allegheny Highlands Program. “Doing so not only benefits the land and wildlife and reduces the buildup of fuels that can lead to large, damaging wildfires, but it also directly supports local communities. Restoring fire to the landscape helps revitalize a culture of stewardship among Appalachian residents while creating new conservation-based employment opportunities that strengthen local economies.”

Download our 2025 Annual Report to read the full story on page 18.