Georgia is blessed with unique environmental riches along the coast, including almost a third of the eastern seaboard's salt marshes and thousands of acres of rare tidal freshwater wetlands. Without careful planning, rapid growth and tourism activities are on a collision course with coastal drinking water supplies, habitats and public lands.

Thanks to visionary and dedicated founders, passionate members and generous donors, the Georgia Conservancy has acted on the most pressing coastal issues of the day for the past 35 years. Key accomplishments in our early years included working to:

• Designate Cumberland Island as a national seashore and wilderness area
  
• Defend Little Tybee from phosphate mining
  
• Create the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve
  
• Oppose oil and gas leasing off the Georgia coast
• Stop titanium mining near the Okefenokee.

As the threat of unsustainable development continues to grow on the coast, the Georgia Conservancy’s work focuses on the following:

As the threat of development continues to grow on the coast, the Georgia Conservancy focuses on:

• Protecting Critical Coastal Lands: By building land conservation networks and outreach through the Coastal Georgia Land Conservation Initiative, and promoting sustainable land use and development practices, marshlands protection, effective stormwater management, barrier islands conservation, coastal hazards management, and coastal wildlife habitat protection.

• Building a Coastal Constituency: By highlighting the unique coastal region, promoting education and advocacy through collaborative efforts with other coastal environmental groups, as well as outreach to our membership and citizens.

• Protecting Coastal Water Resources: Vigilant stakeholder in ongoing initiatives surrounding vital coastal water resources. By monitoring regional water planning and involvement in discussions on coastal water supply alternatives and aquifer recharge protection.

• Educating on Climate Change Impacts to Coastal Ecosystems: By coordinating with organizations in southeastern states to raise public awareness of coastal climate change and sea level rise problems and solutions with an emphasis on coastal protection and adaptation.

• Monitoring Impacts of Large Public Projects on Coastal Ecosystems: By working to ensure minimal impact of the proposed Savannah Harbor deepening through exhaustive environmental analyses. Also engaging in the ongoing debate over the offshore oil and gas drilling.

• Promoting Community Sustainability Initiatives: By supporting local community greening initiatives, including hosting GreenDrinks Savannah - a sustainability social networking group. Working on draft plans for the Chatham Environmental Forum to help Chatham County achieve designation as the "Greenest County in Georgia,"  plus serving as a convener through coordination of town hall meetings, film screenings, roundtable discussions with local and state decision makers, and other public forums.