Wildlife and Habitat Conservation

Conservation of wildlife and habitat is central to the mission of the Foundation. Last year the Foundation awarded more than $40 million in grants to support the protection and restoration of wildlife and critical habitat. Major initiatives include:

Acres for America

Acres for America was created in 2005 by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Wal-Mart to permanently conserve at least one acre of priority wildlife habitat for every acre developed for the company's facilities. To date, the program has invested $10.8 million in eight projects, leveraging over $39 million in additional funding to conserve working forestlands in California, Idaho and Maine, miles of shoreline and dune habitat in Michigan, river corridors and fish spawning habitat in Oregon, bat habitat in Arkansas, and unique natural resources in the Grand Canyon region. Since 2005, Acres for America has permanently conserved 360,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat, helping connect conservation landscapes totaling more than 4.6 million acres.

Tigers

Save the Tiger Fund, now in its 12th year, has invested $15 million in work to protect wild tigers and their habitats throughout their Asian range. This summer, a landmark study commissioned by Save The Tiger Fund, found that the big cats reside in 40 percent less habitat than they were thought to a decade ago. The report calls for specific international actions to safeguard remaining populations. The Fund also launched the Campaign Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT) to build, inform and support alliances among civil society, governments and consuming groups to stop the illegal trade that is killing the world's last wild tigers and destroying their priceless forest habitats.

Forest Habitats

Across the southern United States, the Foundation is helping to replant longleaf pine forests, which historically provided habitat for red-cockaded woodpeckers and other southern species. In the northeast and western states, the Foundation is supporting the acquisition of major forest properties to prevent fragmentation and development. In the past 2 years more than 350,000 acres of forests were conserved across the nation.