Habitat

Creating meaningful, lasting outcomes for wildlife, ecosystems, and people

Our Approach

Natural ecosystems and wildlife are under increasing pressure from society’s growing demand for houses to live in, roads to get around, and resources to keep people warm and fed. To direct conservation efforts to where they will be most effective across a landscape, we must recognize the multiple benefits that a single acre of land can provide. Leveraging performance incentives and user-centered design, we help public and private partners create a common ground to integrate healthy wildlife habitat, thriving agriculture, and resilient communities.

Delta greenway wildlife habitat — Photo by California Department of Water Resources

Advance Mitigation Strategies

We work with infrastructure agencies to design proactive mitigation strategies that streamline permitting processes, protect species, and support resilient communities. Our team is designing one of the first Mitigation Credit Agreements in California to improve flood safety infrastructure and create habitat on productive agricultural lands for listed species.

Pay for Performance Toolkit

The Pay for Performance Toolkit was developed to help conservation, water quality, and community sustainability programs achieve better outcomes. The Toolkit provides a central hub of resources to help programs identify procurement strategies that best suit their local context and needs, allowing them to leverage the unique expertise of the private sector.

Close-up shot of a monarch butterfly resting on pink flowers.

Monarch Butterfly Habitat Quantification Tool

The Monarch Butterfly population has declined by 80 percent in the last twenty years; restoring habitat on agricultural land and rights-of-way corridors is critical to the survival of this iconic species. With the Environmental Defense Fund, we developed a quantification tool that provides a standard protocol for assessing habitat and creating practical management strategies.