7 Stories Show How Conservation Helps Nature and People

Conserving natural spaces conveys benefits far beyond the obvious gains to wildlife and their habitats. As scores of studies show, protecting and restoring lands and waters, particularly when done in close partnership with local communities, also improves economies—and people’s lives. Here are videos from seven experts at The Pew Charitable Trusts saying how collective action is helping yield those benefits around the globe.

1. States are protecting more of their “Outstanding” rivers.

Rivers support people, wildlife habitats, and businesses. Unfortunately, in the United States, many of those rivers are blocked by dams or threatened by pollution, development, and a changing climate.

But there’s also good news, as Pew’s Carrie Sandstedt explains: New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, and other states have recently safeguarded more than 1,600 miles of rivers as “Outstanding Waters” under the Clean Water Act, the United States’ strongest protection level for water quality.

2. Chile is strengthening the protection of its world-class park system.

Managing Chile’s protected areas isn’t easy: Many are remote and scattered over the country’s long, slender geography—a mix of mountains, valleys, fjords, rivers, islands, and marine waters spanning 2,650 miles from north to south.

To help improve conservation, Chile established a new agency—the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service—in October 2024. As Pew’s Francisco Solís Germani breaks down, the agency centralizes management of—and increases funding for—Chile’s 342 marine and terrestrial protected areas.

3. Harmful fisheries subsidies could soon be curbed.

Governments give out $22 billion annually in subsidies to the fishing industry, most of which supports industrial fleets to help them venture farther and fish longer than would normally be economically feasible.

But in June 2022, after over two decades of negotiations, World Trade Organization member countries adopted a fisheries subsidies agreement to curb these payments. This landmark conservation measure will help reduce overfishing and illegal fishing around the world. And as Megan Jungwiwattanaporn notes, with fewer than 20 more countries needed to reach the required ratifications for the agreement to enter into force, that brighter future is within reach.

4. Governments are making real progress in mapping and conserving seagrass.

Seagrass meadows provide critical habitats for marine life, stabilize shorelines, reduce erosion, and mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon.

Despite all these benefits, many seagrass meadows still haven’t been fully mapped. Pew’s Stacy Baez is working with the recently launched Large-Scale Seagrass Mapping and Management Initiative to help create maps of seagrass in the Western Indian Ocean that should help plot the way toward better seagrass protections in that region.

5. Vital—and vulnerable—habitats in South America could gain needed protection.

In Bolivia and Brazil, the Pantanal and Gran Chaco represent two ecologically distinct areas—the world’s largest tropical wetland and a remarkably vast dry forest, respectively—that support local communities, bolster climate resilience, and harbor extraordinary wildlife, explains Natalia Araujo. A new coalition uniting national, local, and Indigenous governments with Pew is working to protect and restore these essential ecosystems, which face mounting threats from wildfires, deforestation, and the impacts of climate change.

6. Wildlife migration conservation is more effective than ever.

Since time immemorial, wildlife have followed the same routes to and from their feeding, breeding, and gathering grounds. But in recent decades, new roads and other development in the U.S. have encroached on those routes, affecting not only wildlife but also putting rural drivers at increased risk of accidents with these animals.

But as Pew’s Matt Skroch says, thanks to advancements in GPS, science and technology experts now know more than ever about when and where animals migrate. This data is helping states better locate and build wildlife crossings, which can help reduce animal-vehicle collisions by over 90% while making major contributions to conservation efforts.

7. More of the high seas could soon gain protection.

Covering two-thirds of the ocean, the high seas—those waters beyond any country's jurisdiction—are rich with marine life, including species known for their centuries-long lifespans and slow reproductive rates. Yet, as Nichola Clark notes, only 1% of these areas is protected.

In June 2023, United Nations members adopted a global treaty establishing the legal framework to create marine protected areas and establish other needed governance measures on the high seas. The treaty will enter into force once 60 countries ratify it—something policymakers and stakeholders believe could happen in 2025.

These examples show that when governments, communities, and organizations work together, they can protect the natural world that sustains wildlife and people alike.

Tom Dillon is a senior vice president and oversees The Pew Charitable Trusts’ environmental work.