conservancy

noun

con·​ser·​van·​cy kən-ˈsər-vən(t)-sē 

plural conservancies

1

British : a board regulating fisheries and navigation in a river or port

2

a

: conservation

b

: an organization or area designated to conserve and protect natural resources

Synonyms

• conservation
• preservation
• sustentation

Examples of conservancy in a Sentence

The land was recently donated to a local conservancy.

raising money for the conservancy of natural resources

Recent Examples on the Web

The conservancy will partner with the San Diego Bird Alliance for a Torrey Pines Photo Stroll at 7 a.m. Saturday, April 19, for bird watchers and photographers. —Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2025

The conservancy currently owns about 208,000 acres across California, Oregon and Utah — the vast majority in California — where the preserve system sees more than 1.4 million people each year. —Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2025

Earlier this month, Andrew Giacomini, a Marin lawyer, filed a complaint alleging that the National Park Service conspired with the Nature Conservancy to pay off ranchers to relinquish their rights to 20-year leases and instead lease the properties to the conservancy. —Richard Halstead, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025

That began a race against the clock to find a temporary or permanent new location, said Susan Gibbs, the head of the conservancy and granddaughter of the ship’s designer. —Isabelle Taft, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English conservancie "act of conserving or keeping safe," borrowed from Medieval Latin conservantia "conservation, office of a conservator," noun derivative of Latin conservant-, conservans, present participle of conservāre "to save or keep from danger, preserve, keep unchanged" — more at conserve entry 1

First Known Use

1667, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for conservancy

• fervency