The Nature Conservancy in Michigan announced a $95 million conservation campaign to protect Michigan’s environment.

The campaign will advance the organizations four key areas of focus: protecting land and water, providing food and water sustainability, tackling climate change and building healthy cities.

Helen Taylor, State Director for the conservancy, said she hopes the public campaign raises for more awareness about the the work the organization is doing.

“These issues are focused on some of the most important challenges we’re facing in the world, and in Michigan and in the Great Lakes,” Taylor said. " By going public, you hope you actually broaden the tent of people who will support your work."

The funding raised through the campaign will go toward specific projects and strategies in the communities across the mitten.

To protect Michigan’s land and water, the conservancy hopes to uncover innovative ways to finance conservation, inform statewide policy and connect even more Michiganders with our state’s natural treasures in the next coming years.

To provide food and water sustainability, the conservancy will partner with statewide fishing communities to support healthy and productive Great Lakes fisheries.

The conservancy plans to continue combating climate change by certifying Michigan’s forests for sustainability, promoting healthy ecosystems, and informing conservation policy in Michigan in order to combat climate change.

In Detroit, the organization is helping to install green storm water infrastructure to improve water quality and provide access to nature for residents.

The organization has raised $89 million so far from private donations and grants. Taylor said the organization hopes to add the additional $6 million to reach the $95 million goal by the end of 2020.

Taylor called previous donors “extraordinarily generous,” and wants the new campaign to inspire those same donors to push them across the finish line.

“The whole goal is to get this work done," Taylor said. "It’s less about fundraising, it’s more about let’s solve these problems.”