The Road to Sustainable Conservation Finance

Across Canada, we work in partnership with Indigenous people to strengthen governance, enhance stewardship capacity, build and sustain leadership and develop locally led sustainable economic development.  One of the ways we do this is by developing sustainable conservation financing models: projects that support Canada’s commitment to the Aichi Targets (Target 1) by ensuring Indigenous co-management can be sustainably financed for years to come.

One of our goals is to ensure the sustainable funding of Indigenous stewardship through the development of novel sustainable financing mechanisms that can catalyze and sustain community-led conservation projects.  We test these financing mechanisms through on-the-ground efforts in each of these geographies.

Deborah Froeb, Conservation Finance Strategy Advisor, shared more about working on this important strategy:

"In my new assignment with Nature United, I am eager to contribute my finance expertise and the conservation investment experience I gained with NatureVest, The Nature Conservancy’s global impact investing unit.  Conservation Finance, a multi sector approach to expanding amount and diversity of funding for conservation actions, is gaining momentum.  Nature United is working with other leaders to develop strategy and policy recommendations to accelerate development of these innovative financial approaches in Canada."

"Nature United continues to work closely with communities to understand their conservation objectives, help quantify associated financial needs and evaluate the feasibility of financial mechanisms.  For funders and investors, we seek to articulate the economic, social and cultural benefits of Indigenous stewardship.

A successful strategy will result in more Indigenous-led conservation with improved management outcomes through programs such as Indigenous Guardians—all of which will help Canada achieve its ambitious climate and biodiversity targets, while advancing the authority of Indigenous peoples manage the lands and waters within their traditional territories."