Following the oil spill, the Land Trust Alliance organized a partnership uniting 30 local, regional, state and national land conservation organizations working to protect and restore lands across the Gulf Coast. Together, the Partnership for Gulf Coast Land Conservation aims to increase the pace, quality and permanence of voluntary land and water conservation within the Gulf Coast region through cooperation with landowners, public agencies, residents and regional stakeholders.

The Conservation Fund’s Role

In 2014, The Conservation Fund lent its Strategic Conservation Planning expertise to help identify and prioritize focus areas for land conservation, in an effort to make the best use of funding dedicated to the economic and ecological recovery of the Gulf Coast region in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In collaboration with the Land Trust Alliance and The Nature Conservancy, we developed “A Land Conservation Vision for the Gulf of Mexico Region,” a 21-page report that maps these areas. The report is intended to be used by our partners, local, state and regional land conservation agencies, and private landowners to assist with the selection of lands for protection through land purchases, conservation easements or long-term voluntary agreements with landowners. It also serves as a resource for state and federal policymakers. View the full report here.

Why This Project Matters

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a wake-up call, showing just how close this fragile and vulnerable ecosystem, and the local economy, was to complete destruction. But from this tragedy comes an unprecedented opportunity to create a new vision for the Gulf Coast region, one that includes protected natural resources, well-managed private lands, restored habitats, replenished wildlife populations and thriving communities and economies.

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Press Release
News Article: After BP's disaster, a massive plan to revive the Gulf of Mexico (Fortune magazine)