Ecotrust
Encyclopedia
Ecotrust is a conservation organization based in Portland, Oregon
that works to foster prosperous communities along the West Coast of North America.
and founding president of Conservation International
.
With the core belief that "the economy of nature and the ecology of man are inseparable," Ecotrust has sought to integrate economic and community development strategies into traditional conservation – and to establish working models of what the organization has variously called: ecosystem economics, conservation-based development, or a conservation economy
.
Ecotrust’s advisors have included urbanist Jane Jacobs
, economist Herman Daly
, forestry scientist Jerry Franklin, and counterculture icon Stewart Brand
. In 2003, ecologist Peter Warshall
summarized the organization’s activities with the statement, "Ecotrust is about designing a future."
Ecotrust began by surveying temperate rain forests as a distinct ecoregion
, an analysis that led the organization to identify British Columbia’s Kitlope River as the largest intact temperate rain forest watershed in the world. Beebe and others from Ecotrust visited the region and engaged the Haisla First Nation, whose traditional territory included the Kitlope. The organization supported the Haisla in launching a Rediscovery Program for cultural education and, four years later, in securing provincial government recognition for over 750000 acres (3,035.1 km²) of temperate rain forest as Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees (the Kitlope Heritage Conservancy Protected Area).
A source of inspiration for the organization has been Wendell Berry
’s quote, "The answers, if they are to come, and if they are to work, must be developed in the presence of the user on the land; they must be developed to some degree by the user on the land." In addition to Ecotrust’s work in the Kitlope region, the organization’s support of local leadership and communities has included Pribilof Islands, Alaska; Prince William Sound / Copper River, Alaska; Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia; Willapa Bay, Washington; and the Klamath region, Oregon / California
In 1992, seeking to find greater financial resources for entrepreneurial efforts in these communities, Ecotrust initiated discussions with ShoreBank Corporation
, the Chicago-based leader in community development banking. In 1995, the two partnered in founding ShoreBank Enterprise (now ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia), a non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI), and in 1997 ShoreBank Pacific, the nation’s first environmental bank. In 1995, Ecotrust also helped to create Ecotrust Canada
, an independent affiliate, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Another emphasis for the organization has been an effort to characterize the region, based on its human / nature interrelationships. Ecotrust published the first distribution and status maps of temperate rain forests and Pacific salmon of North America, as well as a series of books that include The Rain Forests of Home: Profile of a North American Bioregion and Salmon Nation: People, Fish and Our Common Home.
Later in the 1990s, with advice from board member Jane Jacobs, Ecotrust expanded its attention to urban markets. The organization redeveloped a Portland warehouse into the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center
, the first historic restoration in the country to earn a Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) gold award, and launched what has become one of the nation’s leading programs for sustainable food and farming.
Recent extensions of Ecotrust’s work include: honoring native leaders through the Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership; promoting regional economies through a series of cartoon-filled newspaper inserts in the Portland and San Francisco dailies and weeklies; creating decision support tools for ecosystem-based management; launching Ecotrust Forests LLC, a private equity fund to manage forestland for long-term regional health, as well as financial returns; and bolstering bioregional identity through the idea of Salmon Nation.
"The line between for- and nonprofit is getting blurry," said environmentalist and author Paul Hawken
in 2007. Ecotrust has established an unusual affiliation of for- and nonprofit entities that work at the intersection of natural
, social
and economic capital.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
that works to foster prosperous communities along the West Coast of North America.
History and Programs
Ecotrust was founded in 1991 by Spencer Beebe, who brought his conservation experience in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America home to North America’s temperate rain forests. Prior to Ecotrust, Beebe was president of The Nature Conservancy International ProgramThe Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works 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....
and founding president of Conservation International
Conservation International
Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which seeks to ensure the health of humanity by protecting Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. CI’s work focuses on six key initiatives that affect human well-being: climate, food security, freshwater...
.
With the core belief that "the economy of nature and the ecology of man are inseparable," Ecotrust has sought to integrate economic and community development strategies into traditional conservation – and to establish working models of what the organization has variously called: ecosystem economics, conservation-based development, or a conservation economy
Conservation economy
A conservation economy is an ideal, imagined economy in which economic wealth is harvested from a bioregion's local natural resources in a way that meets local communities' needs yet restores rather than depletes natural and social capital...
.
Ecotrust’s advisors have included urbanist Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs, was an American-Canadian writer and activist with primary interest in communities and urban planning and decay. She is best known for The Death and Life of Great American Cities , a powerful critique of the urban renewal policies of the 1950s in the United States...
, economist Herman Daly
Herman Daly
Herman Daly is an American ecological economist and professor at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park in the United States....
, forestry scientist Jerry Franklin, and counterculture icon Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded a number of organizations including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation...
. In 2003, ecologist Peter Warshall
Peter Warshall
Peter Warshall is an ecologist, activist and essayist whose work centers on conservation and conservation-based development. After receiving his A.B. in Biology from Harvard in 1964, he went on to study cultural anthropology at l'École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris with Claude Lévi-Strauss,...
summarized the organization’s activities with the statement, "Ecotrust is about designing a future."
Ecotrust began by surveying temperate rain forests as a distinct ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, an analysis that led the organization to identify British Columbia’s Kitlope River as the largest intact temperate rain forest watershed in the world. Beebe and others from Ecotrust visited the region and engaged the Haisla First Nation, whose traditional territory included the Kitlope. The organization supported the Haisla in launching a Rediscovery Program for cultural education and, four years later, in securing provincial government recognition for over 750000 acres (3,035.1 km²) of temperate rain forest as Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees (the Kitlope Heritage Conservancy Protected Area).
A source of inspiration for the organization has been Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry is an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, short stories, poems, and essays...
’s quote, "The answers, if they are to come, and if they are to work, must be developed in the presence of the user on the land; they must be developed to some degree by the user on the land." In addition to Ecotrust’s work in the Kitlope region, the organization’s support of local leadership and communities has included Pribilof Islands, Alaska; Prince William Sound / Copper River, Alaska; Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia; Willapa Bay, Washington; and the Klamath region, Oregon / California
In 1992, seeking to find greater financial resources for entrepreneurial efforts in these communities, Ecotrust initiated discussions with ShoreBank Corporation
ShoreBank
ShoreBank was a community development bank founded and headquartered in Chicago. At the time of its closing it was the oldest and largest such institution, and in 2008 had $2.6 billion in assets. It was owned by ShoreBank Corporation, a regulated bank holding company.ShoreBank had branches in...
, the Chicago-based leader in community development banking. In 1995, the two partnered in founding ShoreBank Enterprise (now ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia), a non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI), and in 1997 ShoreBank Pacific, the nation’s first environmental bank. In 1995, Ecotrust also helped to create Ecotrust Canada
Ecotrust Canada
Ecotrust Canada is a registered charity in Canada whose mission is to build a conservation economy. Founded in 1994, the organization currently has offices in Vancouver, Tofino and Prince Rupert, BC.- Approach and Initiatives :...
, an independent affiliate, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Another emphasis for the organization has been an effort to characterize the region, based on its human / nature interrelationships. Ecotrust published the first distribution and status maps of temperate rain forests and Pacific salmon of North America, as well as a series of books that include The Rain Forests of Home: Profile of a North American Bioregion and Salmon Nation: People, Fish and Our Common Home.
Later in the 1990s, with advice from board member Jane Jacobs, Ecotrust expanded its attention to urban markets. The organization redeveloped a Portland warehouse into the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center
Natural Capital Center
The Natural Capital Center, formally known as the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center and informally as the Ecotrust Building, is a notable example of green building in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was the first historic redevelopment in the U.S. to receive a gold-level Leadership in Energy...
, the first historic restoration in the country to earn a Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) gold award, and launched what has become one of the nation’s leading programs for sustainable food and farming.
Recent extensions of Ecotrust’s work include: honoring native leaders through the Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership; promoting regional economies through a series of cartoon-filled newspaper inserts in the Portland and San Francisco dailies and weeklies; creating decision support tools for ecosystem-based management; launching Ecotrust Forests LLC, a private equity fund to manage forestland for long-term regional health, as well as financial returns; and bolstering bioregional identity through the idea of Salmon Nation.
"The line between for- and nonprofit is getting blurry," said environmentalist and author Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author.-Life:Paul Hawken had a Swedish grandmother and a Scottish grandfather with a farm. His father worked at UC Berkeley...
in 2007. Ecotrust has established an unusual affiliation of for- and nonprofit entities that work at the intersection of natural
Natural capital
Natural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to goods and services relating to the natural environment. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future...
, social
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
and economic capital.