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Lush green trees reflect in a serene lake, framed by majestic mountains under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Protecting Wildlife, Water, and Land

Conserving Our Resources

Our climate goals include a secondary initiative that is focused on, which is the preservation of public lands, open waterways, and doing our part to help solve the endangered species problem that is impacting ecosystems globally.

Our Priorities

At DCG, sustainability is more than just reducing our overall carbon footprint. We understand the global impact of driving a more sustainable value chain across all aspects of Earth, which is why DCG is focused on the next level of crucial areas that are both impacted by and play a part in slowing climate change. Land Preservation and Forestry expansion is the first line of defense in helping to increase overall CO2 capture. Public Lands provide a haven for wildlife and delicate ecosystems for many years. Wildlife protection serves a vital role in helping to slow the destruction of species and keeps invasive species from destroying natural populations. Finally, Open Waterways are critical to people and wildlife alike’ overall health and safety. Water serves as the life force for all life on Earth and is a valuable resource that must be open and protected from over-commercialization and overfishing.

  • Land Preservation

    The expansion and securing of public lands to preserve our natural habitat are critical to building a sustainable future. This is why we are focused on forestry preservation and growth and the protection of public lands.

  • Wildlife

    DCG commits to protecting the world’s most economically, ecologically, and endangered wildlife to sustain life on Earth. We are focused on helping organizations globally with this focus, much like the World Wild Life Fund.

  • Open Waterways

    We believe that high quality open water is important for resting and foraging waterfowl, shorebirds, marsh birds, and wading birds, as well as migratory fish populations, including threatened and endangered fish. This is an important part of our programs.

Forestry Restoration

Forests are a stabilizing force for the climate. They regulate ecosystems, protect biodiversity, play an integral part in the carbon cycle, support livelihoods, and supply goods and services that drive sustainable growth.

Nearly 25% of global emissions come from the land sector, the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, the first being the energy sector. Half of these emissions (approx. 5-10 GtCO2e annually) come from deforestation and forest degradation. Deforestation poses a critical need to protect and reverse these practices as forests’ role in climate change is two-fold. They act as both a cause and a solution for greenhouse gas emissions.

Research shows that forests have become one of the most robust solutions to addressing the effects of climate change. One-third of the approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 released from burning fossil fuels is absorbed by forests every year. Yet, in a land area roughly the size of South America, estimates show that nearly two billion hectares of land have been degraded worldwide. This offers enormous opportunities for organizations to step up and help restoration efforts. Therefore, increasing and maintaining forests is an essential solution to climate change that DCG is working to help do our part in solving.

Late sunlight breaking through tall pines and spruce on a wooded hillside, with a lake and a forested ridge beyond.

Public Land Preservation & Expansion

As we all experience the climate changes we are experiencing today, we have come to understand the causes done by greenhouse gases. In the atmosphere, these gases trap heat from the sun; however, undeveloped lands can absorb greenhouse gases, keeping them out of the atmosphere.

Approximately 15% of the U.S.’s carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by public lands, forests, prairies, farmland, and other natural habitats. That’s a huge benefit — but one that we stand to lose if we keep converting public lands for development.

Knowing this, land conservation creates a double benefit for the climate. First, it prevents significant greenhouse gas emissions that would result from development — including deforestation, construction, and the other driving required by poorly planned growth. Additionally, it helps absorb these greenhouse gases.

Enabling rights-based land use ensures community involvement in land-use outcomes. DCG is working to produce results on the ground through partners and projects worldwide to help strengthen community control over forests & lands, alleviate poverty, empower women and men, enhance biodiversity, and sustainably manage public lands.

An antlered white-tailed deer walking across open snow in front of a snow-covered treeline.

Wildlife Conservation

DCG is working hard to establish a long-term presence in wildlife conservation by building strong and trusting partnerships and acquiring knowledge that ensures effective conservation action across some of the most delicate species in North America.

Protecting wildlife is critical to helping protect all other biodiversities that are under the conservation umbrella. By saving these iconic, wide-ranging species, we help maintain ecosystem health and protect all others.

A core strategy is to discover the most important places for conservation in North America and inspire people and governments to help us take action to protect them.

Our conservation efforts target iconic, wide-ranging wildlife for their intrinsic value. They are vital to ecosystem health because we protect all other species by saving them. We focus on conserving the North American animal species groups across their ranges.

A white wolf standing on a rocky outcrop at the edge of a wooded clearing.

Open Waterway Protection

Now is the time to protect rivers, open waterways, non-commercial fishing areas and to make sure clean water is available to everyone, everywhere. It has never been more critical to our health to protect our rivers and clean water. Unfortunately, 44% of waterways assessed in the United States are too polluted for fishing or swimming.

We must embrace innovative solutions to deliver clean drinking water, or it will become more and more challenging to solve these issues. Thankfully, conservation and water efficiency help provide faster, cheaper, and more reliable water than costly new dams. The construction of dams, other water storage options, and temporary ponds are expensive and do not solve the underlying issues. More unique and alternative solutions are good news for wildlife, rivers, fish, and communities.

The results of climate change will impact rivers and river communities first and the worst. These impacts will take the form of increased droughts, floods, and waterborne diseases, along with the potential for food shortages and supply chain issues. Therefore, in addition to decreasing global warming pollution, protecting and restoring rivers must be part of the solution. Healthy rivers increase community safety and security, building resilience against these impacts and helping communities thrive in the face of a changing climate.

A breaking wave rolling in towards the shore, with a person in a small boat and a mountain headland in the distance.