Rare is a global environmental nonprofit organization that inspires change so people and nature thrive. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Rare combines behavioral science, local leadership, and global partnerships to design and scale conservation solutions that last.
The organization’s people-centered model works through local leaders — community organizers, fishers, farmers, and government partners — to co-design conservation solutions that are economically and culturally sustainable. Rare’s program portfolio includes Fish Forever (a fisheries co-management initiative now operating across more than a dozen countries), Lands for Life (supporting climate-resilient smallholder agriculture), the Center for Behavior and the Environment (which applies behavioral science to conservation), and an Innovative Finance program that develops new funding mechanisms for ocean and land conservation. Rare has trained more than 100,000 people in behavior-centered conservation design and supports work that benefits 3.2 million people across 356,000 km² of land and sea.
Rare’s Coastal 500 network of locally elected leaders surpassed its 500-leader target in 2026. The organization engages with IUCN through its work on protected area governance, community-based fisheries management, and the design of behaviorally informed conservation programs. Rare’s premise — that lasting conservation must be designed with and by the people who live closest to the resource — has become a widely cited model in international development and conservation circles.
