Minecraft National Park
View the case- Brand
- The Nature Conservancy
- Year
- 2024
- Objective
- Other
- Industry
- Other
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- In-Game
Objective
The Nature Conservancy needed a way to reach a young, game-native audience and fund real-world habitat connectivity work — the wildlife corridors and crossings that let animals cross roads safely. Partnering with Mojang gave the nonprofit a built-in audience of millions and a direct route from play to donations, while Minecraft got a flagship charitable centerpiece for its 15th anniversary: its first map built specifically to raise money for a cause.
Solution
Players open the Minecraft Marketplace, pay 830 Minecoins, and spawn into a sprawling Central Visitor Center that serves as the map's hub. From there they roam freely across nine linked biomes — grasslands, taiga, tundra, cloud forest, jungle, savannah, dry forest, ocean, and wetlands — each built by a different partner creator. In every biome, players stop at a ranger station to learn about the local wildlife, find a landmark monument that anchors the area's identity, and can walk directly across a modeled wildlife crossing to see how animals use it to get over roads safely. Weeks earlier, the same audience could take part for free: a companion template map invited players to build their own monument and post it with a hashtag, and the winning entry — an axolotl sculpture — was built into the finished park as a permanent landmark.
Results
Combined net proceeds from map sales, a December fundraising livestream, and a $100,000 direct donation from Mojang Studios raised a total of $287,000 for The Nature Conservancy.
- 1
In a free May 2024 lead-in, players download a template map with an empty creative space and a podium marked "BUILD HERE!", then construct a monument themed around the beauty and diversity of nature, including at least one Minecraft mob or plant. They post a video of the build on social media with the hashtag #MinecraftMonument to enter the Monument Challenge contest; the winning build is later added into the paid park map itself.
- 2
Players buy the full Minecraft National Park world in the Bedrock Marketplace for 830 Minecoins; the store listing states that proceeds go to The Nature Conservancy.
- 3
Loading the map spawns players in the Central Visitor Center, a hub building that serves as the starting point for the park.
- 4
From the hub, players move between nine biome regions — grasslands, taiga, tundra, cloud forest, jungle, savannah, dry forest, ocean, and wetlands — forming the game's core exploration loop.
- 5
Each biome centers on a monument landmark that defines the area, a ranger station players can enter to learn about the local habitat and wildlife, and NPCs who discuss wildlife protection and conservation through dialogue.
- 6
A recurring interactive object, the wildlife crossing, lets players engage directly with a structure modeled on real animal road-crossings, demonstrating how it lets animals safely cross roads and keeps habitats connected.
- 7
The jungle biome adds a variant activity: players climb the park's tallest treehouse for an overhead view of the area, complete a scavenger hunt for hidden items, and learn about jungle conservation.
- 8
The map is built from more than 50 individually authored sections contributed by different Marketplace creators, and supports 1 to 99 players exploring together.
- 9
In December 2024, players could join a charity fundraising livestream centered on the park map, with donations going to The Nature Conservancy.
