Native Conservancy

The Native Conservancy is devoted to the protection and restoration of Native ecosystems for coastal communities in Alaska, with a focus on indigenous food sovereignty and cultural revitalization. Formed in 2003 to empower Native peoples to protect and preserve endangered habitats on their ancestral homelands, the organization aims to preserve and secure titles to Native lands in conservation trusts to guard and strengthen indigenous rights pertaining to subsistence and spirituality. Efforts include working for community resilience against climate change through regenerative-based economic activities and social enterprise programs, preservation of indigenous subsistence tradition, land conservation, and habitat restoration. As the first Native-led and Native-owned land conservancy in the United States, the Native Conservancy provides a support system for the indigenous peoples of Alaska to preserve their way of life and generate a sustainable future.

501(c)(c3) nonprofit organization, The Native Conservancy works with indigenous peoples and supporters around the region to preserve the pristine habitats of Alaska against the industrial depredation of the modern age. Spurred by the ongoing aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that devastated subsistence resources, salmon markets and fisheries, the Conservancy has used resources from the Exxon Restoration Fund to purchase land, development rights, and conservation easements. Partnering with a sister organization in the Eyak Preservation Council (EPC), the Conservancy has helped preserve more than a million acres of wild salmon habitat along 3,500 miles of the Gulf of Alaska coastline to grow a movement for building resilient communities and regenerative economies to protect endangered species and cultures that depend on conservation of the wild. Other partners include NDN Collective, Honor the Earth, GreenWave, Waterkeeper Alliance, the Chorus Foundation, Ashoka, White Earth Land Recovery Project, Future of Fish, and the Native Land Trust Coalition.

For more information:

Opinion: Indigenous-led mariculture and traditional economies set an example for our future – Juneau Empire, November 2022

Finding our way back to the land – Grist, May 2022

Indigenous climate efforts vital to fight against environmental destruction – ABC News, April 2022

How to source, support, and scale grassroots climate solutions – MIT Sloan School of Management, March 2022

Seaweed Farming Has Vast Potential (But Good Luck Getting a Permit) – Stateline, March 2022

Cultivating Food Sovereignty Through Regenerative Ocean Farming – YES! Magazine, October 2021