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Phoenix Conservancy
The Phoenix Conservancy's mission is to restore endangered ecosystems globally for the communities that depend on them and the conservation of biodiversity. Our goal is to return degraded land to healthy, functional ecosystems with maximal extant, native biodiversity. Our focus is on the most critically endangered, biodiverse ecosystems (10% or less intact) on a Local (Palouse prairie), National (Great Plains prairie, Hawaiian Dry Forest Mosaic), and Global (Madagascar rainforest, Ecuadorian Chocó rainforest, Andean forests) scale, where we use restoration as an economic and ecological vehicle to combat and reverse:
• Mass extinction of Earth's biodiversity
• Climate change and resulting insecurity, desertification, and erosion
• Extreme poverty and lack of equitable, sustainable economic opportunities
Before co-founding and leading TPC, Chris taught and travelled widely, especially in South and Central America. Over and over again, he saw some of the world's most incredible ecosystems reduced to ashes, cathedrals of life burnt to rubble and endless degraded land in place of formerly vibrant, biodiverse forests. He also saw some of the world's most desperate people, struggling to survive with nearly no options, and forced to destroy the ecosystem they depend on to feed global greed and scrape a meager day-to-day living.
It was this that gave rise to our symbol, The Phoenix. Often starting from literal ashes, our restoration work goes beyond simply planting trees, but builds an entirely new relationship with our ecosystems. Since the idea was born, Chris's love for endangered ecosystems of all types has only grown, and he is more proud than he can say of The Phoenix Conservancy's work.
Financials
Programs
Palouse Prairie
This corner of southeastern Washington and adjacent Idaho is one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America (<1% remaining), of great cultural and ecological importance, and one of the world's only prairies dominated by wildflowers. Our work here focuses on connecting and restoring large prairie remnants, expanding native plant horticulture, water-saving urban restoration with native plants, and combatting climate change through biochar production with waste biomass.
Great Plains Prairie
Our flagship site in Fort Pierre National Grassland focuses on large-scale restoration across thousands of acres of public grassland, vital habitat for critically-endangered black-footed ferrets, regal fritillary and monarch butterflies, and imperiled grassland birds including Sprague's Pipit and Greater Prairie Chicken. Our primary focus here is establishing local-ecotype, native plant horticulture in the region to support larger-scale projects with the US Forest Service, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, private landowners, and other restorationists across the region.
Madagascar
TPC's work in Madagascar currently centers around the restoration of degraded lands surrounding Ivohiboro Special Protected Area, home to a unique, montane population of ring-tailed lemur and many unique or undescribed species. Our main focus here is landscape-scale restoration with our unique Foxhole Forest technique, creating thousands of local jobs, and developing multiple self-sustaining social enterprise opportunities that foster reforestation, including voatsiperifery peppercorns and marula oil.
Hawaiian Dry Forest Mosaic
We work in collaboration with Joseph Rock Arboretum in Kona, HI to restore extremely rare Hawaiian native plant communities, in this species-rich mosaic of grassland and dry forest. Our work currently focuses on providing supporting personnel for ongoing projects, expanding the reach of active restoration in the area.
Chocó Lowland Rainforest
In collaboration with the Fundación para la Conservación de los Andes Tropicales (FCAT), we are focused on restoring connectivity between larger remnant patches of this incredibly diverse ecosystem, a global biodiversity hotspot and global conservation priority. Our current focus is on funding direct conservation and large-scale restoration.
Andean Forests
Our newest project focuses on reestablishing altitudinal connectivity between the highlands of the Andes and the lowlands of the Amazon, focusing on combining landscape-scale restoration with sustainable social enterprise.
Volunteering + Events
Local greenhouse cultivation
Have a green thumb, and live near one of our project sites? Our volunteers assist with all aspects of our native plant horticulture.