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"Since the government began requiring oil companies to add billions of gallons of ethanol to their gasoline each year, the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska have lost 2.8 million acres from the conservation reserve program, as farmers planted nearly 10 million more acres of corn, the main feedstock used to produce ethanol. About 5 million other acres are now included in other conservation programs, but nearly all that land is being actively farmed."
Plant a Billion trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
NASA and Miguelrangeljr
Described by the Nature Conservancy as “one of the world's most magnificent and endangered forests,” the Atlantic Forest in Brazil is in peril.
“Centuries ago, the Atlantic Forest covered nearly 330 million acres, an area roughly the size of the eastern seaboard of the United States. Today only 7 percent remains, much of which is in isolated fragments. Home to 130 million people, the Atlantic Forest has taken heavy hits from urban expansion, coastal and industrial development, agriculture, ranching and illegal logging. Despite the forest’s diminished state, 70 percent of Brazil’s population relies on it for its drinking water.”
Learn more about the Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion trees project to save this threatened global resource.
Oceana: Save The Oceans
“Oceana, the only international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, is campaigning to save the planet's remaining stocks of wild seafood.”
Nature Conservancy Year in Review
"Effective conservation took many forms this year. From working to restore oyster reefs in the Gulf of Mexico to playing a critical role in the formation of China’s national conservation plan, The Nature Conservancy worked to advance conservation all around the world." - The Nature Conservancy