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About Images For Conservation

What We Do:

Images for Conservation encourages private landowners to restore, preserve, conserve and enhance wildlife habitat through the business of nature photography.

We have established and will continue creating a strong Private-Lands' Nature-Photography Industry (PLNPI) that provides economic incentives for private-land owners to conserve and enhance wildlife habitat.

We do this primarily through our photography tournaments. We also engage in community outreach and education efforts and help landowners with marketing and land-preparation support.

Why We Do It:

We do it for the wildlife.

Ultimately, if wildlife habitat is to be saved it's up to private landowners to do it. Here are just a few reasons why:

  • Of our fifty states, ten have less than 2% of their space set aside as federal lands accessible by the public and/or devoted to wildlife conservation. (Source: U.S. General Services Administration, Federal Real Property Profile, 2004)
  • Of the remaining forty states, about half of our federally owned land is closed to the public (i.e. military bases and areas privately leased for drilling or mining). (Sources: U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2011; U.S. Dept. of Interior, 2011)
  • Only an estimated 8-12% of federal public lands in the United States are specifically designated as wildlife habitats. (United Nations Environment Programme, 2008)
  • Texas, where Images for Conservation is based, is approximately 95% privately owned. (Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 2011).

Who We Are:

Images for Conservation Fund is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created in 2003 for the purpose of conserving wildlife habitat and generating a sustainable income stream within rural economies through the establishment and prosperity of the Private-Lands' Nature-Photography Industry (PLNPI).

Learn more about our history.

What We Believe:

We believe in finding solutions to help maintain biodiversity.

We believe in promoting responsible land stewardship.

We believe the Private-Lands' Nature-Photography Industry (PLNPI) provides the unique ability to contribute to both of these by making it profitable to conserve habitats permanently.

We believe this sort of sustainable use of private land is a win-win solution for wildlife and for owners who face increasing pressure to develop their lands for commercial uses.

We believe local communities need to be engaged in their conservation efforts and strive to create our tournaments so that local economies benefit whenever possible from photo-tourism dollars generated.

We believe in sustainable solutions, especially imaginative ones. Nature photography provides the perfect tool for such solutions.

Some of the Tools We Use to Achieve Our Goals:

Education - Images for Conservation demonstrates the advantages of private-land photography and provides educational opportunities for adults and children.

  • We instruct private landowners how nature photography creates economic benefits while also conserving the integrity of their land and the wildlife so that both will be there for future generations to enjoy.
  • We instruct the public about the flora and the fauna that live nearby, helping to create intimate connections and providing incentives to conserve local lands.

Art - Images for Conservation promotes photography as a visual voice for nature, featuring award-winning images in books and exhibitions for the public's education and enjoyment.

Natural History - Images for Conservation promotes the study of plants, animals and ecology through the imagery of professional and amateur nature photographers, chronicling the biodiversity of North America.

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