Working with investors, conservation projects and local organisations to catalyse the finance and incentives to protect and restore nature
It is estimated that we need $1 trillion a year in finance to protect and restore biodiversity globally, and that 80% of this is going to come from the private sector. Sustainable finance models, if properly designed and developed, provide the resources and incentives, at scale and on an on-going basis, to achieve our conservation goals in a way that traditional grant funds cannot.
To achieve this, we work in collaboration with conservationists, businesses and investors to develop and implement a wide range of conservation finance projects around the world, including voluntary carbon projects and nature-based solutions, forest-positive commodities, ecotourism, biodiversity credits and green financial products.
We are always looking for more projects, partners, people and investors to come with us on this journey and help close the biodiversity financing gap.
Rhino Impact Bond
Recently issued by the World Bank, the $150 million Rhino Conservation Bond was developed by ZSL and Credit Suisse, who remain as project partners. It provides an innovative financing model for wildlife conservation that includes performance related outcome payments by the Global Environmental Facility based on investee’s success increasing the southern white rhino population.
Coast4C Conservation Enterprise
Coast4C is a conservation enterprise launched by ZSL in 2020 to drive ocean and climate restoration through inclusive value chains for regenerative seaweed and end-of-life fishing nets. Coast4C builds on the award-winning Net-Works project co-created by ZSL and Interface which validated the inclusive value chain model in the Philippines and successfully tested replication in Cameroon and Indonesia. Coast4C has an offtake agreement with Cargill, obtaining $500,000 in venture capital investment and winning the Island Innovation Awards in 2022.
Blue Carbon Mangrove Restoration
ZSL Philippines has developed a community-led approach to rehabilitating abandoned fishponds, has quantified the carbon sequestration potential and ROI of this approach. We are developing a blue carbon project based on our expertise in order to attract investment, scale up our approach across the central Philippines, and sustainably fund mangrove protection and restoration.
Coffee Agroforestry in Thailand
ZSL Thailand is working with local NGO Human Elephant Voices Network to solve the issues surrounding Human Elephant Conflict in the Western Forest Complex through innovative Nature-Based Solutions. This includes the promotion of alternative agroforestry farming systems that are unattractive to elephants and help sequester carbon. We are working to scale the project through investment in cooperatives, market development and carbon credit sales.
Urban River Restoration in London
ZSL is working with local authorities on the River Crane in west London to develop a blueprint for urban river restoration, stacking revenues from flood risk reduction, decreased utility costs and income from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) to create an investable business model. The project aims to improve water quality and reduce flooding through sustainable urban drainage and other river restoration activities.
Contact our conservation finance team for more information on how we can work together to support wildlife, people and the planet.