Behind One of the Nature Conservancy's Largest Ever Forest Purchases

The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) purchase of 165,000 acres of land in Washington’s Cascade Mountains and Montana’s Blackfoot River Valley is a recent example of "impact investing"--putting money into a business or nonprofit to receive a financial return and generate social or environmental change. To raise the money in a timely manner and to negotiate the acquisition, TNC relied on NatureVest, a division of the conservancy that functions much like a bank, raising money from institutions and individuals who care about the environment and then investing that money in conservation projects that can generate  investor repayments. "I think this will be one of TNC’s most significant land deals ever," said Advisory Board member and TNC president and CEO Mark Tercek. "The acquisition connects vast landscapes previously broken up into a checkerboard pattern of public and private ownership. In the process, it conserves vast swaths of wildlife habitat, protects sources of clean water, and expands recreational access. In my view, no organization other than TNC could have taken on this project."

Read the Full Article