CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Business leaders and Nature Conservancy supporters gathered to discuss the best ways to invest in Earth's natural assets during the 2009 Corporate Council Annual Dinner at Berry Hills Country Club in Charleston on Thursday.

Sustainability has become an environmental buzzword over the past couple of years, but it's sometimes hard for nature enthusiasts to really define what sustainability means, said key speaker Mark M. Collins Jr., a partner at Brown Advisory, former director to the World Bank and International Finance Corporation and Nature Conservancy member.

While Collins said he has a hard time "getting his arms fully around the concept," he said that sustainability could be seen as a quest for equilibrium between continuing to conduct a profitable business while maintaining a positive connection to nature.

One thing he does know for sure is that sustainability is not a burden on businesses or people.

"It lowers costs, increases revenues and corporations that are involved with it have a competitive advantage in the market," he said.

A human dimension features prominently into everything the Conservancy does as well, Collins said.

When programs are started to help increase the effectiveness of a fisheries operation, for example, jobs will also be taken into consideration.

In fact, Collins said, many of the projects the Nature Conservancy has been behind over the past few years have managed to increase jobs in certain industries while maintaining and even improving that corporation's connection to nature.

Almost 15 years ago, the Nature Conservancy, in conjunction with American Electric Power, started a project in Belize where almost 4 million acres of land were conserved to see how stopping the destruction of forests in the tropics can reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, said Nature Conservancy State Director Rodney Bartgis.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Business leaders and Nature Conservancy supporters gathered to discuss the best ways to invest in Earth's natural assets during the 2009 Corporate Council Annual Dinner at Berry Hills Country Club in Charleston on Thursday.

Sustainability has become an environmental buzzword over the past couple of years, but it's sometimes hard for nature enthusiasts to really define what sustainability means, said key speaker Mark M. Collins Jr., a partner at Brown Advisory, former director to the World Bank and International Finance Corporation and Nature Conservancy member.

While Collins said he has a hard time "getting his arms fully around the concept," he said that sustainability could be seen as a quest for equilibrium between continuing to conduct a profitable business while maintaining a positive connection to nature.

One thing he does know for sure is that sustainability is not a burden on businesses or people.

"It lowers costs, increases revenues and corporations that are involved with it have a competitive advantage in the market," he said.

A human dimension features prominently into everything the Conservancy does as well, Collins said.

When programs are started to help increase the effectiveness of a fisheries operation, for example, jobs will also be taken into consideration.

In fact, Collins said, many of the projects the Nature Conservancy has been behind over the past few years have managed to increase jobs in certain industries while maintaining and even improving that corporation's connection to nature.

Almost 15 years ago, the Nature Conservancy, in conjunction with American Electric Power, started a project in Belize where almost 4 million acres of land were conserved to see how stopping the destruction of forests in the tropics can reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, said Nature Conservancy State Director Rodney Bartgis.

"We took steps to measure scientifically and transparently how much carbon was kept out of the atmosphere by not cutting down the forests," he said.

More than 1 million metric tons of carbon has been prevented from going into the atmosphere based on the findings from the project, Bartgis said.

Although the project was implemented in another part of the world, Bartgis said that business in West Virginia should see this as an implication that there is an inexpensive way to mitigate carbon emission and protect the forests at the same time.

"Businesses are beginning to think and act differently," Collins said, and projects around the world, like the one in Belize, show that if Nature Conservancy supporters continue to develop and implement projects that protect Mother Earth, everyone will be better off.

"The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of low-hanging fruit out there," he said. "It takes time and money to cultivate it, but it can be done."

Additionally, the Nature Conservancy recognized Lowe's and Lowe's Charitable & Educational Foundation for a gift of $250,000 to The Nature Conservancy for the successful conservation of 4,500 acres of important forestland overlooking the New River Gorge. 

"The gift," according to a letter from Gov. Joe Manchin, "helped to provide a new place for public recreation, continuing to make West Virginia a destination for tourists and improving the quality of life for West Virginians.  The conservation of this property shows that we can strike a balance between development and conservation."  

Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.