ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

The earth's ecosystem—the natural chemical, biological and physical cycles essential to sustaining life—represents a highly evolved and efficient system. Understanding these complex systems and how the human footprint affects them is critical to our future and the sustainability of the planet. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundations supports projects that protect land and marine ecosystems and preserve them for future generations. Projects funded by the Foundation include:

	Forestry Protection — Multiple grants provided to NGOs developing land trusts to protect in perpetuity several hundred thousand acres of Pacific Northwest old growth forests.
	Sustainable Agriculture — A multi-year grant to Washington State University for research into scientific-based methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems through new cropping practices and treatment of agriculture wastes.
	Sustainable Fisheries — A multi-year project funded with University of California Santa Barbara and Environmental Defense to provide the scientific, economic and policy basis for implementing "catch-shares," market-based fishing quotas programs to replenish declining fish populations along the Pacific coast.