Future of Chesapeake Bay Restoration Effort
The Choose Clean Water Coalition, hosted by the Federation, has made major contributions to the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort. The Chesapeake Watershed Agreement set 2025 as the deadline for finalizing all pollution-reduction practices throughout the watershed. Our Coalition director has been at the center of conversations focused on what lies beyond 2025. At our annual conference, the Beyond 2025 Committee released its initial plan and gathered feedback in real-time. Our letter detailing recommendations for the proposed plan was co-signed by 131 of our partners. Finally, we coordinated an op-ed campaign among organizations, partners, and businesses in support of the restoration.
Photo Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program
Greening Sacred Grounds in the Great Lakes Region
Healthy habitats and healthy communities go hand-in-hand. The Sacred Grounds program promotes installing wildlife habitats and native plant gardens at community anchor organizations and also supports community engagement with programmatic events and workshops. In 2024, the program reached over 130 sacred spaces in Detroit, MI; Grand Rapids, MI; Toledo, OH; and Cleveland, OH. Changes to Detroit’s drainage fees prompted dozens of houses of worship to install medium-to-large-scale rain gardens to not only reduce water utility bills but also to address flooding and amplify community driven solutions.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Jones
Conserving the Amazon Through Collaborative Leadership
The Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado (a tropical savanna ecoregion) are two of the most biodiverse places on Earth. NWF’s International Wildlife Conservation program works hand in hand with stakeholders in agricultural supply chains, Brazilian non-profits, and state and federal government to enact policies that reduce deforestation, protect Indigenous lands, and minimize worker exploitation. After three years of discussions, in April 2024, we reached agreement with Brazil’s largest meatpackers and retailers on the first-ever guidance for environmentally and socially responsible cattle sourcing from Brazil’s Cerrado. NWF encouraged the Brazilian Indirect Suppliers Working Group, whose members include Brazil’s largest grocery stores and top meatpackers to enact new rules for sourcing from producers who are free from illegal deforestation and human rights abuses.
Photo Credit: Luana Luna