Rising sea levels. Vanishing rainforests. Dying coral reefs. Degraded freshwater resources. And endangered human livelihoods.

These and other growing threats are why conservation is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity.

The Nature Conservancy has launched the Campaign for a Sustainable Planet — the largest conservation campaign in history — to address these challenges to the Earth and ensure the health and survival of the natural world that sustains us all.

To Nearly Double Conservation's Reach

The Campaign is a worldwide call-to-action to protect the Earth's natural resources for future generations.

Our goal is to protect at least 10 percent of each of the world's major habitat types — forests, oceans, rivers and lakes, grasslands, and deserts and dry lands — by the year 2015.

Such an achievement would nearly double the global lands and waters conserved during the past 70 years. Conservation on this scale is unprecedented. But so are the risks of doing nothing.

A Science-Based Blueprint for Success

Conservancy experts have led groundbreaking studies to examine global patterns of habitat loss and protection status.

Those studies have helped us build a holistic, worldwide model that objectively tells us where conservation must happen — and how:

• Forests affect everything from air quality to climate change to water supply — yet an area of forest the size of Panama disappears annually. We will expand our innovative strategies to stop deforestation — from acquiring private lands to helping develop forest carbon markets.
• Oceans are among the most threatened habitats on Earth — yet less than 1 percent of marine environments have any level of protection, endangering the billions of people who depend on them as well as countless other species. To meet the threats, we will scale up our signature marine solutions: creating protected areas, improving management of fisheries, restoring coastal ecosystems and implementing market-based solutions.
• Freshwater resources are dwindling, and more than one-half of humanity faces water shortages by 2050 without immediate action. We will continue our work in the most important rivers and lakes in the world — especially with farmers and other significant users of fresh water.
• Grasslands provide so much — food, pharmaceuticals, freshwater resources and wildlife habitat — but are the least protected habitats on Earth. We aim to protect millions of grassland acres, from Mongolia to North America's Great Plains to Argentina and Africa.
• Deserts and dry lands cover 30 percent of Earth's land surface, are inhabited by about 1 billion people — and are endangered by development and agriculture. From Colorado to Australia, we're helping ensure these critical habitats remain healthy and productive.

We are also tackling global threats to Earth's sustainability — such as climate change and invasive species — by testing strategies that can be rapidly replicated, adapted and expanded.

What's Required to Achieve the Goal

The Nature Conservancy has been able to conserve nearly 120 million acres around the world over its 55-year history. And we are well-positioned to spearhead this campaign:

• We are the world's largest non-profit conservation organization — already working in 34 countries on five continents.
• We routinely partner with corporations to achieve conservation goals — including some of the largest forestland preservation deals on record.
• We influence international policy on issues from climate change to invasive species.
• We have helped generate $32 billion in U.S. public funding for land acquisition and other conservation measures.
• From Africa to Colombia to California, we work with communities around the world that are directly impacted by habitat destruction and climate change.

But we cannot achieve our goal alone. The growing threats to the planet now require us to create new partnerships at all levels and with all sectors of society — from the poorest to the wealthiest, from indigenous people to multilateral organizations.

And we also need to enter new geographies and transform the scale and pace of conservation work around the world — thereby raising its importance on the world stage.

Investing in the Campaign: Everyone Has a Role to Play

We have much to achieve by 2015. And everyone has a role to play — especially individuals. Fundraising will be crucial for this effort, especially during the campaign's first three years.

A rapid infusion of private and public funds will help us launch the Campaign's initial priority programs — from the Yangtze River to the Caribbean Basin, from Indonesia's rainforests to Africa's grasslands and savannas to the desert borderlands of the United States and Mexico.

And to support the full campaign, the Conservancy will raise at least $5 billion in private philanthropy. While the amount is substantial, the results for future generations will be lasting:

• A sustainable planet where natural habitats and human communities coexist.
• A world where the climate is stable and natural resources are renewable, plentiful and secure.

Only with your help can we achieve this vision — to ensure the health and survival of the natural world that sustains us all.

Help us achieve our vision of a healthy and sustainable natural world — make a donation to the Campaign for a Sustainable Planet.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Video © The Nature Conservancy (Campaign for a Sustainable Planet); © Jeff Yonover (Nembrotha nudibranch); © Patricio Robels Gil (Chisos Mountains)