The American company founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1837 is renowned for its fine gems set in noble metals, from its famed diamond engagement rings to one-of-a-kind Tanzanite necklaces, as well as its Swiss-made timepieces produced with high-quality materials. Less well-known, however, are the strides the company takes to replenish the world that over the years has furnished it gold, silver and platinum, along with diamonds and sapphires. In recent years especially, Tiffany has strived to ensure that its precious metals and gems are responsibly sourced.

In 2000 the company formalized its commitment to giving back by creating the Tiffany & Co. Foundation as a philanthropic offshoot. Its three main concerns are promoting responsible mining, protecting coral reefs and the surrounding seas, and nurturing natural areas inside cities by creating and restoring urban parks.

“The foundation is proud of to support organizations working to preserve the world’s most treasured landscapes and seascapes,” said Anisa Costa, chairman and CEO of the Tiffany & CO. Foundation in a statement. Here’s a sampling of the foundation’s recent efforts, with a special eye to projects in the Americas.

Over the past five years the Tiffany foundation has given the Conservation Lands Foundation money to help expand and promote America’s portfolio of protected land. The timing seems to be fortuitous. During this same time span, the trove known as the National Conservation Lands gained eight significant parcels.

In 2013, President Barack Obama designated New Mexico’s Rio Grande del Norte as a national monument. He granted the same status in 2014 to California’s Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands and New Mexico’s Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. Last year he bestowed that status on Colorado’s Browns Canyon, California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain and Nevada’s Basin and Range. In February he made the Sand to Snow and Mojave Trails national monuments in California as well. New permits for mineral extraction won’t be given within any of these National Conservation Lands, says Dave Welz, associate director of communications for the Conservation Lands Foundation.

Helping restore former U.S. mining areas in another way, the Tiffany foundation over the past decade has funded Trout Unlimited’s Abandoned Hard Rock Mine Restoration Program, which rejuvenates the surrounding rivers, streams and lands.

As part of its urban parks push, the Tiffany foundation has fostered the creation of two new parks that bookend the nation on the East and West coasts; their grand openings took place last year. A $1 million gift to the City Parks Foundation in New York resulted in last August’s inauguration of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Woodland Garden along Manhattan’s Battery by the SeaGlass Carousel. Native plants are embedded throughout the park. Another $1 million gift, to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, supported November’s launch of the Battery East Vista, a new overlook in San Francisco’s Presidio area.And two additional park projects are in the gestation stage: Tiffany foundation funds given to the Trust for Public Land are helping plan, with community involvement, what’s to be called Queens Way, a park proposed for an abandoned railway in New York City’s borough of Queens. The Resource Foundation, also supported by Tiffany’s charity, is restoring parts of Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park: the Xochipilli Fountain, an icon recalling the city’s pre-Columbian culture, and the Composer’s Passage, a walking path. The work is expected to be completed this year.Decades ago Tiffany often used coral in its jewelry. But as of 2004, Tiffany no longer sells any jewelry with the animal-derived material. One might have to travel to a museum to see a sample. Coral reefs are where a rich array of wildlife species reside, so when their homes are safeguarded they serve as an anchor for biodiversity.

The Tiffany foundation has aided coral reefs to the tune of $10 million over the past 15 years. A $3 million gift, granted in 2014 over four years, is going to Ocean 5, an environmental group that restores seas around the world. Another grant recipient, Oceana, has worked to develop the 114,872-square-mile Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, whose creation off the coast of Chile was announced in October by President Michelle Bachelet.