The Southern Delmarva Conservation Initiative

2. The Southern Delmarva Conservation Initiative The Mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive

9. The Nassawango Preserve • 12,000 acres of TNC land protection around the entire watershed • Northern-most cypress swamp, home to rare plants especially orchids • An important tributary to the Pocomoke River • Highly important migratory song bird stopover habitat • Drains into Pocomoke Sound, the “last of the best” of the Chesapeake Bay

24. The Virginia Coast Reserve • Conservation targets in mid-Atlantic Bight, Atlantic barrier islands, Chesapeake Bay, coastal bays, and upland forests and streams • Private TNC ownership of over 52% of the Atlantic Ocean beachfront on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, • 15 of 18 barrier islands • 38% ownership of all Atlantic coastline in the Commonwealth of Virginia • Over 750 miles of shoreline in private protection • Over 130,000 acres of public and private protected land • World’s largest seagrass restoration project with VIMS: over 4,500 acres • Over 2,000 acres of oyster reef restoration sanctuaries with VMRC • 3.2 billion native oysters in coastal bays, twice as many as in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay • Best water quality and most pristine marshes and vegetated mainland on Atlantic Seaboard • Last ecologically intact, undeveloped barrier island wilderness under permanent protection by private, state and federal partners in US.