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Three new case studies from preservation advocates Wildland and Woodlands show how collaborations to preserve land in New England pay off in employment, tax revenue, and housing investment. In each process, local leaders with heft in capital, policy and community trust worked together to craft an outdoor-focused strategy that encouraged...

So this panther walks into a bank... — (Courtesy Mark Conlin/Alamy, via the NRDC website.)

*It should be noted that with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many conservation banks along with other conservation projects are facing uncertain futures because the pandemic has put a stress on current and future funding. For many years, conservationists, landowners, and developers have met at crossroads when handling cases of endangered...

Forest carbon offset companies see a source of credit, and value, in small forest owners. These owners, in turn, see offsets as a way to sustain their assets. What does this emerging field need to normalize about valuation, verification and communication to make deeper financial and ecological impact?

Cash flows and rivers flow — The Washington Farmland Trust, which crafted the Conservation Note, provided this image.

How does a farmer with no desire to keep growing crops become a catalyst for financial value and land preservation? The Washington Farmland Trust worked with a farmer at the end of his career to craft a financial package that would keep his land from developers, sustain ecosystem services, and...

Regions on the rise — The NRCS says it can help foster wide and deep conservation impacts by giving partners more latitude. (Photo courtesy NRCS.)

Kari Cohen, Branch Chief at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), oversees regional partnerships. Kari explained the Alternative Funding Arrangement (AFA) provision of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which will invest up to $50 million in fiscal year 2020. The first cohort of up to 15 projects this fall will...

What makes efforts to preserve land harmonize with efforts to promote commerce? In this article, we review several examples. Entrepreneurs learn to bolster terrain for hikers (who drink beer), historically sensitive consumers, and fellow merchants. These examples show how creative approaches to promoting conservation and community-based development can yield ongoing...

Easements unlock value for landowners and preserve land for everyone else. With challenges to our ecosystem and economy coming faster and from more directions, conservation leaders need tools that apply more quickly or in quirkier situations. This toolkit looks over a range of techniques that extend conservation to situations where...

In May, the Network spoke to Nathalie Woolworth, conservation finance manager of the United States Forest Service about the Innovative Finance for National Forests program. This program offers $1.8 million in grants for the development and deployment of innovative financial models to support resilience of the National Forests.

How do you sum the value of everything in, from, and under these trees? — (Courtesy City Forest Credits.) Beyond soothing imagery, urban trees measurably lift air quality, energy affordability and employment. City Forest Credits aims to quantify what that's worth.

City Forest Credits matches nonprofits and cities to fundi urban trees. It describes its mission as one to make “American cities greener, healthier, and more equitable.” By computing value of rainfall interception, air quality benefits and energy savings, the outfit aims to define premium price for nonprofit organizations to charge...

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new series called the Network Toolkit. This series of articles focuses on individual tools practitioners can use. Our goal is to span the range of comfort levels our readers have – from simple to challenging.

This article by Eve Boyce and Marcy Lyman is part of the Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. In an increasing number of communities across the country, utilities are working with conservation groups to ensure the ecosystem services...

This article by Nathalie Woolworth and Hazel Wong is part of the Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. Ballot measures, also known as initiatives or propositions, are instruments of direct democracy that allow voters to directly shape public...

This article by Maria Martinez is part of the Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. State revolving funds (SRFs) have been used for decades as a source of low-cost financing for a variety of water-infrastructure projects.

How Regenerative Agriculture Can Grow

This series, by the Yale Center for Business and the Environment's Regenerative Agriculture Initiative team, looks at how changes in training, investing, insuring and marketing the work of regenerative farmers can bring about broad benefits.

Sustaining land, water, and habitat means showing how society can outgrow fossil energy. Visit our partners at the Clean Energy Finance Forum to learn how states, startups and serious investors are building a clean energy economy. cleanenergyfinanceforum.com

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

Conservation Finance Network

Successes Around New England Show How Open Space Opens Economic Pathways Across the USA

Species and Habitat Conservation Banking

New Forest Carbon Offset Strategies Turn to Small Landowners for Big Impact

Latest Articles

Good Crops, Good Credit: How a Northwest Land Trust Sustains Farmland With Capital

Alternative Funding Arrangement: Unlocking Partnerships With Private Capital at USDA NRCS

Aligning Conservation and Community Development for Increased Impact in Sentinel Landscapes—and Beyond

Beyond Easements: Broader Approaches for Greater Conservation Outcomes

Forging Fresh Ideas for Forests: An Interview with Nathalie Woolworth

A Startup Seeks to Raise Urban Equity

Tools for Financing Conservation

Launching the Conservation Finance Network Toolkit

Conservation Partnerships with Water Utilities

Ballot Measures

Using State Revolving Funds for Land Conservation

Tourism Was Backstopping Conservation. Then Came Coronavirus.

Event Hub Leverages Water-Quality Credits on Oyster Shells

Madagascar Official Worries About Threats to Conservation After Covid

An Eight-Figure Infusion from Amazon's Fund Aims to Nurture Forests...

...as Small Forests' Capital Needs Come Into Focus