Advocate

Advocacy is in our DNA.

With your support, we are one of the only statewide environmental organizations with multiple full-time staff who advocate for wildlife, land conservation, and protection of our region’s natural resources.

We use a nonpartisan approach guided by the basic principle of ‘follow the science’. In consultation with our in-house team of experts and volunteers we advocate at every level of government from local to federal for enhanced funding for land preservation, endangered species protections, and to promote climate forward, justice centered policy solutions. We are proud to be the state affiliate for the National Wildlife Federation.

2021 Advocacy Priorities

The global pandemic as well as the turbulent social and economic events of 2020 brought something for our team and community into focus: that now is the time to unite, organize and advocate. While advocacy looks different now than it did in the past, we’re still working hard to secure protections for our natural world, and the health and well being of the people who live in it. In 2021 we made an organization wide commitment to diversity in everything we do, including our advocacy work.

Diversity, Equity, Justice and Inclusion

The reality is that environmental injustices disproportionately affect communities of color or low-socioeconomic status. Here at DelNature we’re committing to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion in our work by:

Collaborating and engaging with leaders and members of impacted communities across our state to raise their voices and tell their stories.
Reviewing, strengthening, and advocating for each issue we take up through a DEIJ lens, regardless of the deemed purpose.
Prioritizing legislation and policy solutions that would provide direct relief, or prevent further damage to vulnerable communities.

Sustainable, Dedicated Clean Water Funding

Water is an essential part of all living things on this planet, however in Delaware 90% of our waterways are polluted from legacy toxins and excess nutrients, while 40% of Delawareans report that they experience flooding at some point each year. Here’s how we’d like to change that:

Passing House Bill 200, the Clean Water for Delaware Act this year. This legislation creates a clean water trust fund, and a clean water account.
Securing Governor Carney’s proposed $50 million in clean water investments.
Ensuring that these investments are prioritized for underserved communities, and for expanding green infrastructure.

Land, Habitat, and Wildlife Protection

Protection and preservation of open spaces provides habitat for wildlife, replenishes our drinking water supply, and removes air pollutants while restoring wildlife populations. We are working to ensure that future generations of Delawareans can experience our state’s unique ecosystem by:

Reduce plastic pollution.
Full funding for Delaware’s Open Space and Farmland Preservation Programs.
Passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.
Transparent Coastal Zone Regulatory Process.
Implementation of Delaware’s Ecological and Extinction Task Force Recommendations related to native plants.

Fighting Climate Change

As we all collectively do our best to live through the current global crisis of Covid-19, we cannot and will not lose sight of the emergent threat of a warming planet. Climate change is a multifaceted problem that affects everyone in Delaware and our world at large. Here’s what we’re focusing on:

Increasing Delaware’s Renewable Portfolio Standards
Planning at the local, state, and federal level for the impacts from climate change.
We appreciate the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) efforts to formulate Delaware’s first climate change plan. We’ve submitted our thoughts.

View Our 2021 Priorities in Detail

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Support Our Clean Water Campaign

Since March 2015, Delaware Nature Society, along with our partners Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and Center for the Inland Bays, has been running a statewide clean water campaign.

The Clean Water: Delaware’s Clear Choice campaign:

Builds an alliance of Delaware stakeholders to support sustainable funding for clean water.
Supports efforts to ensure that funding for clean water improvement projects places an emphasis on green infrastructure projects.
Lays critical groundwork to further educate and connect residents to their local waterways and empower them to take action to improve the quality of these waterways.

We believe that securing funding for clean water can lead to a cleaner environment, healthier crops and food sources, improved economy, and increased tourism. By securing support for clean water initiatives throughout the state, we are securing a better, stronger Delaware. Clean water is truly Delaware’s clear choice.

We need your help

This campaign is funded by the William Penn Foundation .

Plastic Bag Ban

Delaware bans plastic bags! Thanks for your support to reduce hazardous plastic pollution in Delaware! The ban will take effect on January 1, 2021.

Learn More

The Clean Water Rally and Funding

Over 125 clean water advocates joined us for the 5th Annual Rally in 2019. Our advocacy lead to the inclusion of $20 million for clean water funding in Delaware’s budget for Fiscal Year 2020. That’s $10 million more than last year!

More About Our Clean Water Rally