Foundation invests in organizations and programs that pursue lasting conservation outcomes by aligning economic and conservation interests

Foundation embraces “conservationomics”: conservation solutions that make economic sense

Multi-year investment supports expansion of certification program, continued development of partnerships with fishermen, industry and retailers

Fishery Improvement Partnership Fund will first support spiny lobster fishery in Honduras

October 30, 2013 -- The Walton Family Foundation announced a Gulf-wide effort to spotlight business support for restoration projects that will benefit both the economy and the environment. The campaign, Operation 1-1-1, provides a unique platform for fishermen, restaurant owners, community leaders and other coastal residents to tell their stories and call on policymakers to support environmental restoration that benefits local communities.

We applaud the USDA’s announcement today that the Colorado and Mississippi River basins will be included as critical conservation areas in the agency’s new Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The new initiative, part of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, is a Farm Bill conservation program that will focus on locally-driven projects that restore rivers, improve water quality and support economies across the country.

A longtime leader in environmental science and conservation who has worked for nearly three decades to preserve ecosystems across the globe has been selected to direct the environmental grant-making efforts of one of the country’s largest foundations.

The Walton Family Foundation is proud of our decades-long track record investing in real solutions to tough environmental challenges. Over the last five years alone, we’ve invested $351 million in efforts to support real, lasting ecological restoration in the Gulf of Mexico, to tackle the water policy challenges in the Colorado River Basin, to conserve some of the most ecologically rich seascapes around the globe and to push for sustainable fisheries management that benefits fishing communities and families. Our grantees include many of the nation’s leading environmental groups, as well as local organizations working on behalf of the communities that depend directly on healthy rivers, oceans and wildlife.

The Walton Family Foundation is pleased to announce that water issues expert Ted Kowalski is joining the environment program team as senior program officer. Kowalski will lead the Colorado River basin initiative, which pursues innovative solutions to address the basin’s water quantity issues against a backdrop of ongoing drought, increasing demand for water and insufficient water management policies.

The Walton Family Foundation is pleased to announce that Monica Medina is joining the environment program as deputy director, effective May 31. In this capacity, Monica will also direct the oceans initiative, which invests in the Americas—the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru—and Indonesia to end overfishing, improve ocean health and preserve coastal livelihoods. Monica Medina most recently served as the senior director of international ocean policy at the National Geographic Society.