Human Nature
Human Nature is a storytelling series featuring the people and communities working with nature-based solutions to protect water in the midst of climate change. This work is helping restore health to ecosystems and helping people and nature thrive together.
When We Take Care of Nature, Nature Takes Care of Us
From the smallest streams to the vast ocean, water connects us all. Healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands sustain wildlife, strengthen communities, create economic opportunity and help protect people from a changing climate. By investing in nature-based solutions to care for these vital places, we can build more resilient communities, create jobs and help protect our neighborhoods. When nature thrives, so do we.
The Walton Family Foundation believes that when people take care of nature, nature takes care of people. That’s why we’re investing in projects that use nature-based solutions to improve water outcomes for people and ecosystems alike.
Nature-based solutions support:
These approaches protect communities, support economies and build long-term resilience.
Read more in this article from Environment Program Director Moira Mcdonald.
Nature-based solutions support:
- healthy wetlands
- coastal habitats
- headwater forests
- climate-resilient fish populations and
- sustainable farming practices
These approaches protect communities, support economies and build long-term resilience.
Read more in this article from Environment Program Director Moira Mcdonald.
We take care of the river. River takes care of us. River gets better. We get better. Communities continue to thrive.
Mayor Lenise Peterman, Helper City, Utah
Meet the People Working with Nature to Protect Water
September 21, 2026
In the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, local partners are connecting landowners to vital federal resources that preserve ownership and protect the land
September 21, 2026
Fish refuges show how communities work with nature to rebuild depleted stocks and strengthen long-term economic resilience
September 21, 2026
Nature-based solutions are unlocking economic and environmental benefits in Helper City, Utah
September 21, 2026
Taking a cue from the humble beaver, a landscape rises from the ashes in Colorado’s Grand County
September 21, 2026
How a sustainability-linked loan in the Midwest is encouraging farmers to adopt nature-based solutions
September 21, 2026
How farmers and flood advocates in Iowa are using the power of nature to store more water in the soil
If we have healthy seas, we have healthy families. It’s our collective source of life. The ocean gives to me, but I also take care of the ocean.
Edgar Murillo Talamantes, president of Mexico's Cooperative Islote de Agua Verde
Related Stories
November 11, 2025
Conservation easements in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley are helping landowners like Peyton Daniel preserve a way of life while returning unproductive land to its natural state
December 12, 2025
By working with nature, communities across the country are improving water quality and rebuilding critical habitat
April 16, 2025
In southern Arizona, the Cocopah Indian Tribe is reconnecting with its roots by bringing neglected stretches of the river’s floodplain back to life
April 20, 2026
A new guide highlights investment-ready opportunities in Mexico’s growing sustainable fisheries sector
In the Quad Cities, community leaders are accessing new funding for improvement projects that beautify and improve access to the river.
Owning land, walking outside into a forest that you own and just listening to nature, fishing or hunting makes you feel a sense of self-worth.
Wilbur Peer, founder of The KKAC Organization