How The Nature Conservancy Works in the Gulf of Mexico

Researcher with manatees in Blue Spring State Park, Florida
© Kevin Barry

Our Goal

Recognizing the imperiled status and global significance of the Gulf of Mexico, the Conservancy will serve as the driving force to conserve and restore the health of coastal and marine habitats. The Gulf of Mexico Initiative will engage partners and resources to implement innovative “on-the-ground and in-the-water” approaches that sustain global conservation, economic, and community values.

Our Approach

Conservation by Design is the philosophy that guides the Conservancy’s work in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world. The Conservancy builds on more than 50 years of conservation experience and a time-tested approach grounded in science and collaboration. Science guides everything, from site selection to threat assessment to land protection and management strategies.

The Gulf of Mexico Initiative develops and implements strategies to address the main threats to Gulf of Mexico coastal and marine biodiversity—habitat destruction and fragmentation. We are working together with Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Mexico, the Conservancy’s priority conservation initiatives, and partners to accomplish this goal. Using science and policy, we seek to further conservation and restoration efforts across the Gulf of Mexico region.

The Nature Conservancy's Gulf of Mexico Initiative work falls into three broad categories:

Coastal habitat restoration of vital seagrasses, oyster reefs and coastal wetlands
Ecosystem management through sediment management, biogeographic planning and nutrient and hypoxia reduction
Regional ocean governance as a partner in the Gulf of Mexico Alliance
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Look Who's Helping

The Gulf of Mexico Initiative works with a variety of partners, like the Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Program as it seeks to conserve biodiversity in the region.