Invest in Nature THE CONSERVATION NOTE

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1 Invest in Nature THE CONSERVATION NOTE

2 Bring nature into your investment portfolio YOUR INVESTMENTS Your investments have the power to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. You can help protect wildlife, restore drinking water supplies, and improve people s lives in the U.S. and around the globe. YOU CARE ABOUT OUR NATURAL HERITAGE and protecting it for future generations. Perhaps you support environmental causes with your charitable contributions. Today you can do so much more: you can invest. When you invest in The Nature Conservancy s Conservation Note, the full value of your principal supports our conservation work. The Conservancy has financed hundreds of millions of dollars in conservation, protection and restoration; with the help of caring investors like you, we can make a greater impact and achieve lasting results around the world. Photo Nick Hall

3 BY INVESTING IN THE CONSERVATION NOTE you are helping to support conservation projects around the globe. Each and every dollar you invest in the Conservation Note will support our priority conservation projects like protecting water sources, restoring wildlife habitats, and preserving working farms and ranches. These investment-grade Notes allow you to generate more than just a financial return. The full value of your capital is deployed to go to work in critically important natural areas. YOUR VALUES The Conservation Note allows you to put your money where your values are. Photo Suzi Eszterhas

4 Examples Of Our Work Photo Mark Godfrey Photo Bryan Evans PRESERVING HERITAGE, NATURAL RESOURCES AND LOCAL ECONOMIES On western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, the road disappears into the breathtaking landscape of Clayoquot Sound. This is a globally unique place where a rare temperate rainforest supports indigenous communities and reflects thousands of years of cultural heritage. The First Nations of Clayoquot Sound seek strategies for preserving their heritage, protecting their rich natural resources and furthering the region s economic stability. Traditional stewardship has protected much of the island s old growth cedar and salmon streams, but pressure to log valuable timber continues. Pursuant to an innovative collaboration, the Conservancy extended a $1.15 million dollar loan to First Nations-owned Iisaak Forest Resources, Ltd., which controls most of the timber tenures in the Sound. The financial flexibility provided by this interim working capital investment afforded the company and the First Nations communities the time to pursue alternative strategies to preserve these pristine watersheds which are critical to the health of native wildlife and salmon fisheries and to the cultural, social and economic well-being of First Nations. PROTECTING AND SUPPORTING COASTAL COMMUNITIES Established to protect important fresh water resources, New York State s six-million-acre Adirondack Park is unique among protected areas in the continental United States. Small towns, businesses, and commercial timber operations all exist within a rugged and forever wild landscape that is larger than the Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Parks combined. Timber companies typically held onto their tracts for decades, some for more than a century. In recent years, though, the largest timber tracts in the Adirondacks have been sold. With each sale, much was at stake, including the park s wild character, economic underpinnings and intact forests. In 2007, 161,000 acres of timberland, prized for their bountiful forests, beautiful streams, and dazzling lakes, became available for purchase. Many feared the spread of damaging development. The Nature Conservancy s ability to act swiftly to purchase and protect those lands using funds available because of Notes investors marked a pivotal moment in the history of the park.

5 Photo Richard Hamilton Smith Photo Nick Hall CATALYZING CHANGE CONTINUING A LEGACY In Eastern Colorado, when the 37,000- acre Winship Ranch became available for sale, the Conservancy was able to create a buyer group of five surrounding ranchers. Each bought a segment of the ranch, together preserving the whole property, a condition of the ranch s sale. In the arid east, large ranches are more viable. By enlarging their own properties, these ranchers who have been on their land for three, four, and even five generations were able to bring their children back to the ranch, maintaining the viability of these small rugged communities that would otherwise lose their schools and stores. Funding from the Conservancy s Notes enabled the buyers to pay a price below market, by purchasing a conservation easement from both the seller and the five buyers. The Conservancy used its own funds to buy the easement at the time of the sale and organize the buyer group after the sale had occurred demonstrating the flexibility and swiftness with which the Notes allow us to work. LEVERAGING PUBLIC DOLLARS WITH PRIVATE INVESTMENT Today most of Minnesota s grasslands are gone, having been plowed under or paved over long ago. What remains is threatened by invasive species, fire suppression, energy development and conversion to other land uses. The Nature Conservancy is working to protect the remaining 90,000 acres of native prairie and savanna in the state and restore thousands of acres of degraded prairie and wetland habitat. With funding from the state s Outdoor Heritage Fund, The Nature Conservancy launched The Minnesota Prairie Recovery Project which means that for every private dollar invested in conservation through the Project, the Conservancy leverages upwards of four times that amount in public funding. In July 2014, with funding support from the Conservation Note, The Nature Conservancy expanded its 6,200-acre Bluestem Prairie Preserve with the purchase of an additional 79 acres. Bluestem Prairie is one of the nation s largest and best remaining tallgrass prairies, home to rare orchids, butterflies, snakes and the greater prairie chicken, whose courtship displays are enjoyed by hundreds of visitors each year.

6 Start investing in nature for future generations YOUR INVESTMENT WILL SUPPORT THE CONSERVATION OF CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FORESTS, MOUNTAIN RANGES, RIVERS, COASTS, AND THE LANDS THAT SURROUND THEM. The Conservation Note helps The Nature Conservancy achieve conservation at scale by enabling us to act quickly and with maximum flexibility when an important conservation opportunity arises. When an opportunity to purchase land, protect an important marine habitat, or support the restoration of a vital water supply occurs, our state and country programs can draw on the funds provided by your investment in the Conservation Note to cover the costs of conservation action, accessing the funds with as little as a few weeks notice. Rigorous science determines where the Conservancy works. We design conservation portfolios, placing special emphasis on protecting and restoring whole natural systems like forests, watersheds, and habitats. We then work collaboratively with partners to develop a set of strategies to make conservation in these places a reality. As a result, your investments help protect natural areas that the Conservancy has designated as the highest priority and of the most conservation significance. THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IS A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION YOU CAN TRUST. WE HAVE THE HANDS-ON IMPACT OF A LOCAL NONPROFIT AND THE GLOBAL REACH OF A POWERFUL INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION. We are delivering tangible results that are rooted in science and big enough to make a lasting difference around the world. We have a 60 year track record of successful environmental stewardship and the resources and leadership to achieve big things for conservation. For more than fifteen years, institutional investors have been able to buy investment-grade Nature Conservancy bonds. With the Conservation Note, that opportunity is now available to individuals. Borrowed capital allows the Conservancy to protect the places and resources that people and nature need to thrive. Our work can require large amounts of capital; our debt works alongside our own capital to make these projects happen. Photo Unknown

7 Photo Ami Vitale PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR VALUES ARE. Invest in the Conservation Note today and generate more than just a financial return generate a return for nature and for future generations. 1 2 Before you invest in a Conservation Note, please carefully read the prospectus available at nature.org/invest. To purchase, please complete the form included with the prospectus. Choose your investment amount, term and interest rate. The minimum investment is $25,000. You select a term of 1, 3, or 5 years. WANT TO LEARN MORE? CALL: invest@tnc.org VISIT: The Nature Conservancy, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity, offers the Conservation Note. The purchase of the Conservancy s securities is subject to risks, which are described in the Prospectus. These risks include the difficulty of achieving or measuring conservation results, as described in the Prospectus. In addition, there is no assurance that the Moody s rating of the Notes will be maintained; it may be changed or downgraded. A change in rating during the term of the investment is not an event of default under the terms of the Conservation Note. The Conservancy significantly depends on donor contributions for its expenses, including the repayment of the Notes. This is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, these securities. The offer is made solely by the Prospectus, and only in states where authorized.

8 Conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. FOR MORE INFORMATION contact us toll-free at: visit: Cover Photo Helmuth Humphrey, Apertures Inc.