The Nature Conservancy

“The form 990 is prepared by cohnreznick, based on financial statements audited by pricewaterhousecoopers, and other internally generated information by the conservancy's tax services team. The prepared 990 form is reviewed by the conservancy's tax services team and members of senior management. The board audit committee then reviews for any significant issues or judgments relating to disclosures. Copies are provided to the full board of directors prior to filing with the irs.”

“The nature conservancy's monitoring and enforcement of its conflicts policy is governed by its conflict of interest standard operating procedure ("sop") which establishes procedures for staff to identify conflicts and address them in a timely and appropriate manner to help tnc protect its reputation and maintain the trust of its staff, donors, and others with whom it does business. This sop explains how to identify actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest as well as how to disclose and address conflicts of interest that can not be avoided. A conflict of interest exists when an individual's personal, social, or financial interests interfere or conflict with the best interests of tnc. This happens when a person who is responsible for acting in the best interests of tnc has another interest or loyalty that may make it difficult to perform their tnc work objectively and effectively and act in tnc's best interests. As used throughout the sop, the terms "conflict and "conflict of interest" include: 1. Actual conflicts of interest; 2. Potential conflicts of interest (situations that could become actual conflicts in the future based upon foreseeable events or the passage of time); and 3. Perceived conflicts of interest (situations that others could reasonably perceive to be, or have the appearance of, a conflict of interest). Generally, conflicts can arise from relationships between the conservancy and staff, board members, trustees and advisors, and the families of all those groups. There are very specific rules regarding who is a "covered person" that are governed, in great part, by the u.s. Internal revenue service requirements for public charities. If a conflict of interest is identified which cannot reasonably be avoided or it is not in the best interest of the conservancy to do so, before proceeding with the proposed activity, review and approval to proceed must be obtained from management and the tnc conflicts committee. While a request for approval of a proposed course of action is pending or being considered, the transaction or activity cannot proceed. Requests are submitted using an online disclosure tool that is accessible by all staff. The tool includes answers to required questions depending on the type of conflict and requires the submitting staff member to explain why the conflict cannot or should not be avoided and recommend a course of action designed to minimize the conflict's potential adverse consequences. Proof of approval from the staff's supervisor and, where requried, businss unit leader is uploaded to the tool along with the submission. The ethics and copliance team and tnc attorneys may be consulted to assist in analyzing conflicts. A. Board and key employee certifications. All conservancy board members and key employees (including officers) shall annually complete a conflicts of interest and affiliations disclosure form to identify conflicts and ensure any conficts are properly addressed and disclosed on the 990 where required. Board members and volunteer trustees receive training when they onboard and routinely thereafter on the need to and the process for disclosing conflicts for review by the conflicts committee. B. Staff certification. All conservancy staff shall annually certify that they have read the conflicts of interest policy and sop and have disclosed all conflicts. C. Supervisor approval required for tnc staff disclosing a conflict. As part of the required disclosure process, tnc staff must obtain review and approval from their immediate supervisor, and where required from their business unit manager, prior to submitting a conflict disclosure for review by the conflicts committee. These approvals indicate that they support the staff member pursuing the proposed activity and approve the recommended course of action and proposed mitigation as sufficient to manage the conflict. D. Conflicts committee review required. The conflicts committee reviews and makes determinations about whether”

“The president and chief executive officer's, as well as members of the executive team's performances and compensation are reviewed annually by the board of directors or committee thereof. The performance and compensation of all other key employees is reviewed annually by their direct supervisor. All compensation amounts are based on information provided by an independent compensation consultant who utilizes comparable data from form 990s from other organizations and compensation surveys and studies to ensure reasonableness.”

“The nature conservancy's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public via our website: nature.org.”

“Tnc's accounting methodology through the 2021 tax year does not attribute revenue or all programmatic expenses to a specific program, as many times projects make progress toward more than one of tnc's conservation goals. As such, the separation of programs in part iii would not accurately reflect the programmatic expenditures and corresponding revenue. Protect oceans, land and water during the 2021 tax year, tnc worked towards conserving critical forests, grasslands, and other habitats rich in carbon and biodiversity, making sure the oceans thrive through new and better-managed protected areas, improving the quality and amount of water available in freshwater ecosystems, and protecting wildlife, coastlines, and communities. Examples of recent accomplishments are included below. Tnc is working with the mongolian government to meet its goal to protect 30% of mongolia's lands by 2030 through a powerful new collaborative conservation venture called enduring earth. Through broad partnerships, a commitment to permanent funding and working on a vast scale, enduring earth brings local communities together with governments and four leading conservation groups and foundations: the pew charitable trusts, world wildlife fund, zomalab and tnc. In mongolia, tnc and enduring earth partners are developing a $170 million initiative to help the country protect 35 million acres and deepen support for conservation on an additional 69 million acres of existing protected areasall critical for sustaining the future of carbon-storing peatlands, free-flowing rivers, and boreal forests, as well as legendary grasslands. This enduring earth project in mongolia is just one of 20 planned for priority conservation regions around the world. In every case, enduring earth harnesses local support and brings finance principles from the private sector to ensure lasting conservation commitments at the biggest possible scale. Tnc struck an innovative new debt-for-nature deal with the barbados government that reduced the country's debt burden while generating significant funding for marine conservation. The deal restructured approximately $150 million of barbados' external debt at a more favorable rate for an agreement to protect 30% of its ocean territory and spend $50 million of its savings on sustainably managing its marine resources. Blue bonds support global goals to protect more than 10% of the world's oceans by 2030. Similar deals in belize and seychelles have now generated more than $200 million for conservation and protected an area of ocean spanning more than 150,000 square milesan area larger than japan or germany. Alongside partners in cape town, south africa, tnc has been working to bring water back to the city's reservoirs after drought led to terrible shortages. The work includes training local crews to clear invasive plants like acacia trees from the watershed that supplies the citya step shown to save enough water to supply the city for two months. For more than two decades, tnc has worked with dozens of cities and communities on four continents to create water funds that bolster natural systems to protect water supplies. Now, tnc and pegasys, a global sustainable infrastructure consulting group, are advancing more than 50 watershed projects in the next four years. The collaboration, called the nature for water facility, aims to deliver best-in-class technical assistance to local efforts. While traditional water projects tend to focus on more costly downstream infrastructure, such as filtration plants, water funds help cities look upstream to find nature-based solutions to keep clean water flowing. This often involves conserving forests to protect water supplies, restoring wetlands to filter pollutants, and implementing better farming practices to stop pollution at its source. Often nature can deliver better results at significantly less cost. In cities like nairobi, kenya, medellin, colombia, quito, ecuador, and many others, the conservation work i”

“Tackle climate change during the 2021 tax year, tnc used the power of nature and strength of policy and markets to store carbon, support renewable energy and reduce global emissions to help address climate change. Examples of recent accomplishments are included below. Tnc worked to build momentum on climate commitments in the us, through advocating for the passage in the u.s. Of major new legislation that reaffirmed the country's commitment to leading efforts to tackle climate change. The inflation reduction act, which was enacted at the beginning of the 2022 tax year, delivers on a long list of tnc climate priorities, invests $370 billion in renewable energy, zero-carbon transportation, coastal and community resilience, and natural climate solutions. The legislation also begins to address the disproportionate effects of air pollution and climate change on historically marginalized communities. The new law, together with passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in the previous year, should result in an estimated reduction in u.s. Greenhouse-gas emissions of around 50% below 2005 levels by 2030, which will put the country on track to hit net zero emissions by mid-century. Many of tnc's conservation and sustainability projects also focused on climate change. For example, working on a climate action plan with the fond du lac band of lake superior chippewa shows how investing in renewable energy and carbon-storing trees encourages community self-reliance and nature-positive solutions. In a partnership with microsoft, tnc scientists are using artificial intelligence to map the global growth of renewable energy, a key step in directing energy development away from natural areas. Tnc continues to prioritize protecting forests, planting trees, and stewarding healthy farmland soils since tnc scientists have noted that nature itself can deliver one third of the needed global emissions reductions. Tnc is also partnering with a growing number of cities, including new york city, phoenix, arizona, and berlin, germany, to develop nature-based solutions that lessen the most severe effects of climate change such as extreme heat and flooding.”

“Contract/professional fees: program service expenses 118,473,632. Management and general expenses 10,431,494. Fundraising expenses 12,396,061. Total expenses 141,301,187. Printing and mailing services: program service expenses 2,629,511. Management and general expenses 133,125. Fundraising expenses 13,811,969. Total expenses 16,574,605. Public relations services: program service expenses 64,090. Management and general expenses 3,244. Fundraising expenses 336,648. Total expenses 403,982.”

“This form 990 has been prepared based on consolidated audited financial statements. Tnc presents the form 990 financial numbers on a deconsolidated basis per the instructions, which includes some intercompany balances with related entities on the balance sheet that have been carried forward from prior years. These intercompany balances reflect the best information available at the time of filing.”

“Gain on interest swap agreements 9,210,999. Split interest agreement valuation adjustment -43,884,199. Valuation gain/loss on trade land -408,446. Intercompany transfers -47,600,099. Adjustment to beginning net assets - income -10,271,540. Pledge write-off (temporarily restricted) -4,602,338. Adjustment from consolidation of tnc uk foundation ltd. 4,956,522. Distributions from non-controlling interests 521,887.”