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Financial modeling is an emerging application for land trusts. It could make a great difference in their ability to forecast and plan for various future financial scenarios. At this year’s Land Trust Alliance Rally conference during the “Your Future: Financial Modeling for Long-Term Stability” workshop, the Dutchess Land Conservancy of Dutchess County, N.Y., presented a financial model it developed.

One would not typically think a timberland investment manager would partner with a land trust to conserve a ranch as an impact investing deal. However, this is exactly the case for the 25,000-acre BX Ranch in Pueblo County, Colorado. At the 2018 Land Trust Alliance Rally Conference, the “Impact Investing – The ‘Real’ Deal” workshop showed how the Palmer Land Trust developed an innovative impact investing framework with Lyme Timber Company and The Nature Conservancy to secure the funds necessary to protect the ranch.

Food entrepreneurs are exploring plant-based meats and cell-based meats. According to one market analysis, the global meat-substitutes market is estimated at $4.63 billion USD as of 2018. It will be worth $6.43 billion USD by 2023 at a compound annual growth rate of 6.8 percent.

Refinería de Barrancabermeja in Colombia

In Colombia, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, the government introduced a tax on fossil fuels of $5 USD per ton of carbon dioxide by late 2016. The regulation was set to start working in 2017.

The National Philanthropic Trust’s 2017 Donor-Advised Fund Report found that the capital housed in donor-advised funds across the United States exceeded $85 billion in 2016. This represents an almost 10-percent increase since 2015 and a 28-percent increase since 2012.

Sustainable forestry represents a major portion of conservation finance’s investable landscape. According to a 2016 Forest Trends report, “State of Private Investment in Conservation 2016,” sustainable timberland investments accounted for approximately 34 percent of all private conservation investments from 2004 to 2015.

Conservation managers and entrepreneurs who are looking to make their projects stand out as investment opportunities should be sure to supply the information that investors want. Impact investing experts interviewed by Conservation Finance Network expressed a surprising lack of interest in most impact metrics and measurements aside from carbon sequestration. They instead indicated that they prioritize honest assessments of risk. They also value an understanding of how an investment opportunity can fit into a larger portfolio.

There is a growing gap between available impact capital and conservation investments. This has become a major focal point for investment professionals in the field. One reason for this trend may be that conservation investments are not meeting investor expectations due to a lack of quality opportunities.

This article by Paula Chamas and Mark Berry is part of the Conservation Finance Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. Carbon stored in forests has become a great opportunity for conservation-minded landowners to obtain an additional stream of revenue.

The community of Ixtlán de Juárez in Oaxaca, Mexico is a great example of the multiple economic, ecological and social benefits of a sustainably managed community forest. Forest management and ownership has fostered social and economic prosperity in this community while protecting the unique environmental values of its land. It is an indigenous Zapotec community located in one of the poorest areas of Mexico in the rugged mountains of the Sierra Juarez. Revenues from forest management have been reinvested over the years in the creation and growth of different community-owned enterprises.

CFN is pleased to announce our 13th annual Conservation Finance Boot Camp will be held June 24-28th, 2019, at Portland State University in Portland, OR. The Boot Camp is a week-long, intensive training course to help mid-career professionals utilize innovative and effective financing strategies for land and resource conservation, restoration, and stewardship.

Voices of Conservation Finance is a podcast series that interviews conservation finance practitioners to explore career paths and opportunities for professional development in the field.