Donate a Little, Save a Lot More Than Money

We all understand that nature gives us adventure. Yet, often when humans interact with nature, we leave it worse than we found it. That’s why, starting in 2008, Backcountry and The Nature Conservancy joined forces to protect and restore the natural landscapes, habitats and places that we all enjoy. This Giving Tuesday, we’re asking our community to take some of their savings and give it back to nature. There are now $1, $3 and $5 donation buttons built into checkout to make it as easy as possible for anybody to donate.

Nature is a vast place, so you might be asking what $1, $3 or $5 can really do. We asked The Nature Conservancy the same question and the answers might surprise you.

$1 Could Plant a Tree

Around the world, trees provide enormous benefits to people, nature and our climate. For all that they do, forests around the world are continuing to disappear due to deforestation. The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion campaign is working to restore the world’s critical forests. And though $1 doesn’t seem like much, it could plant a tree in Brazil, China or the USA. That’s a big impact for a buck!

$3 Could Support a Ranger Dog

The Loisaba Conservancy in Kenya is home to over 260 species of birds and 50 species of mammals, including 800 elephants. With all that wildlife comes poachers. TNC has helped enlist the noses of tracker dogs to find poachers before they can exact their toll on the wildlife. One dog, Morani, has helped arrest over 100 poachers over the last 8 years. A $3 donation could provide four meals for a ranger dog, like Morani.

$5 Could Help Restore a Coral Reef

2018 was the international year of the reef. As this year comes to a close, we all have one last opportunity to participate and help restore this dying underwater forest. The Nature Conservancy is working around the globe to protect coral reefs, and with one $5 donation, the Conservancy could help plant or restore new coral.

Partners in Protecting Nature

We have been collaborating with The Nature Conservancy because of our shared values—to get people outside and interacting with the natural world without harming it. Here are some of the ways we’re working together with The Nature Conservancy to make this a reality.

 

Showing Support

Two national monuments in our backyard here at Backcountry have been in the spotlight recently. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments have been threatened by new legislation that would reduce the protected areas. We helped The Nature Conservancy collect over 130,000 signatures showing the public support for the protection of these areas.

 

Volunteering Time

To further our long-standing partnership with The Nature Conservancy, we’ve started to organize work events on TNC land or protected areas. Recently, a few of our Backcountry employees, Gearheads, and customers headed into the Matheson Preserve in Moab to revegetate a small yet integral area in the nearly 900-acre wetland.

 

Donating Money

With the assistance of thousands of customers, Backcountry has raised nearly $650,000 in donations for The Nature Conservancy. Backcountry has made nearly $125,000 in corporate gifts to the Conservancy, and starting in 2014, we started asking customers to add $1 to their order as a donation, all of which goes directly to The Nature Conservancy. Most recently, we’ve created custom products that support some of their larger efforts, like the Colorado River.

Over the coming years, we look forward to more volunteering, donating, and showing our support for The Nature Conservancy as they work to protect and restore the places where we live, work and play. If you’d like to sign up for policy alerts, volunteering opportunities or to make a larger donation (and we’d encourage you to do any of the three), you can visit  The Nature Conservancy website.