Tompkins Conservation

They see the loss of biodiversity as the greatest crisis of their time. The sheer number of humans and the scale of their impact on the Earth have triggered the most massive wave of extinctions since the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago. Unraveling ecosystems and associated species loss are severely undermining the planet’s ecological health, upon which all of us, non-human and humans alike, depend. Climate change now threatens to accelerate this assault on biodiversity. They believe that humans have an ethical obligation to share the planet with other species, and that they must reorient their values and activities so that all forms of life can flourish. Toward this end, they direct their energies to park creation, activism, restoration, and ecological agriculture. Throughout diverse programs, they uphold their commitment to a common set of ideals: ecologically grounded local economies; local, renewable energy production; thoughtful, place-appropriate architecture and design; and meaningful work for individuals and communities. For a longer discussion on the environmental ethics and ecocentric thinking that guide their work, where we share a more complete treatment of this highly nuanced subject. They focus on environmental and conservation work (including agriculture) while supporting in spirit other progressive social movements. However, since they see that many foundations exclusively fund social justice, antiwar, and women’s issues, they direct their limited resources toward the areas where they can have the biggest impact and have the most experience: conservation and environmental activism.