Conservation International’s Reason for Being

We believe that the Earth’s natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are to thrive spiritually, culturally, and economically. Our mission is to conserve the Earth’s living heritage – our global biodiversity – and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.

Core values: passion, respect, integrity, optimism, and courage. 

Guiding five fundamental values

1. Passionate about nature and cherish the diversity of life from the sea bottoms to the mountain peaks.

2. Respect and trust each other embracing the diversity of cultures, talents, and experiences.

3. Make every decision with integrity and are accountable for the choices.

4. Optimism that life on Earth can be preserved and that we will witness unprecedented successes in conservation.

5. Courage to take bold action in the face of naysayers and critics, persevere through challenging times, and pursue the organization’s vision tirelessly and with enthusiasm.

Conservation International’s Strategy

Conservation International’s innovative problem-solvering is based on cutting-edge science, comprehensive partnerships, and concern for human well-being. With those three principles as guides, the international organization safeguards valuable species, preserves the most important landscapes and seascapes, and supports communities that care for and rely on Earth’s natural resources. To reach these goals, focus is put on three strategies:

1. dedication to innovation,

2. raising awareness about conservation, and

3. maintaining business-like effectiveness.

This strategy is funded by the

Future for Life Campaign

The Future for Life Campaign aims to reach concrete, measurable targets with the goals to:

• Save species in the most biologically diverse and irreplaceable regions of the world, which contributes to the vital balance of all living things. The campaign is on track to ensure that there are no vertebrate extinctions where CI works between 2005 and 2010.

• Conserve landscapes and seascapes – from tropical forests to crucial coastal habitats – to support human well-being, biological diversity, and natural resource preservation. To date, over 143 million terrestrial acres and 80 million acres of marine area have been conserved .

• Empower local communities to ensure that responsible and effective use of natural resources happens around the world, for the benefit of local people. Already 32 million acres of indigenous area have been safeguarded.

• Develop innovative methods to address issues such as climate change, human well-being, and corporate best practices. In 11 countries carbon projects to benefit local communities, protect biodiversity, and address climate concerns have been undertaken.

• Raise awareness of a conservation ethic and build a shared mindset in governments, development institutions, corporations, partner organizations, and local communities. The global consensus emerging around concerns like climate change and the availability of fresh water, are examples of a movement in which Conservation International plays a key role.

• Guarantee effectiveness by developing a robust organizational infrastructure to support work at home, in the field, and around the world.

Over 85 percent of CI expenses go directly to conservation programs and only 4 percent to fundraising.

History of Conservation International

Conservation once focused on preserving natural areas as untouched relics of the past. All that changed in 1987 when a group of pioneers single-handedly redefined conservation.

In a Washington, DC hotel room on a cold February night in 1987, a small group of pioneers single-handedly redefined conservation. Instead of keeping places intact as relics of the past, it envisioned conservation as a working model of the future – a future in which people lived in harmony with nature.

Conservation International has made this future a reality with the support of an ever-expanding list of key players. For more than twenty years, we have empowered communities in jungles and deserts to make conservation part of their livelihoods. From early partnerships with Patagonia and Starbucks to our ground-breaking relationship with Wal-Mart, we’ve worked with companies large and small to make conservation part of their business model. Governments from Costa Rica to China have worked with us to make conservation a core component of their national policies. Throughout this process, every strategy, every action has been guided by ground-breaking science.

Today, the world has caught up with us. Governments, businesses, and individuals on every continent recognize that we must balance our needs with nature for a better future. Meanwhile, we continue to make history, developing the tools necessary to protect nature for future generations.

When it comes to our team of dedicated conservationists, variety is indeed the spice of life. It is our diversity that sets us apart from others in the green business, and it gives us a truly global focus. We have almost 400 team members in Arlington, VA. And beyond the city lights, in the farthest reaches of Earth, almost 600 CI field personnel live and work in the magnificent yet threatened regions where conservation is needed most.

Quite literally, it is the dirt under our fingernails we work so hard to protect.

Conservation International