Forum News

Voices of Conservation Finance: An Interview with Bethany Olmstead
Allegra Wrocklage, Kat Friedrich
In this episode of "Voices of Conservation Finance," our guest was Bethany Olmstead, Conservation Manager with Working Forest Fund, a program of The Conservation Fund. She shared how her background in land conservation guides her work with The Conservation Fund to finance the acquisition and protection of forestland in the United States. She discussed how her passion for protecting land for wildlife habitat and public access can also provide economic benefits for local communities.
Could a Mature Timberland Asset Class Spur Conservation?
Chris Martin
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.
How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
Jeffrey Conti
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.

Forum News

Upper St John River, Maine
Forest Carbon Offsets
Paula Chamas
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.
Related Articles
Voices of Conservation Finance: An Interview with Bethany Olmstead
Allegra Wrocklage, Kat Friedrich
In this episode of "Voices of Conservation Finance," our guest was Bethany Olmstead, Conservation Manager with Working Forest Fund, a program of The Conservation Fund. She shared how her background in land conservation guides her work with The Conservation Fund to finance the acquisition and protection of forestland in the United States. She discussed how her passion for protecting land for wildlife habitat and public access can also provide economic benefits for local communities.
Could a Mature Timberland Asset Class Spur Conservation?
Chris Martin
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.
How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
Jeffrey Conti
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.
Ixtlan de Juarez forest
The Economic Benefits of Mexico’s Community-Forest Management
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.
Related Articles
Voices of Conservation Finance: An Interview with Bethany Olmstead
Allegra Wrocklage, Kat Friedrich
In this episode of "Voices of Conservation Finance," our guest was Bethany Olmstead, Conservation Manager with Working Forest Fund, a program of The Conservation Fund. She shared how her background in land conservation guides her work with The Conservation Fund to finance the acquisition and protection of forestland in the United States. She discussed how her passion for protecting land for wildlife habitat and public access can also provide economic benefits for local communities.
Could a Mature Timberland Asset Class Spur Conservation?
Chris Martin
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.
How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
Jeffrey Conti
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.
Tuna auction in China
Investing in Sustainable Fisheries
Kalyani Basu
A total of 31.4 percent of global fisheries are being fished at biologically unsustainable levels, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. However, a 2016 study by Costello and others said the application of sound management reforms to global fisheries will increase biomass by 619 million metric tons relative to a business-as-usual scenario. One way to enable sustainable fisheries management is to target the activities of small-scale coastal fishing businesses.
Related Articles
How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
Jeffrey Conti
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.
New Jersey Shields Its Fragile Shoreline Ecosystems
Kat Friedrich
Among the piping plovers and marsh grasses of New Jersey’s scenic coast, environmentalists and communities are busy creating green infrastructure to shield the shorelines from storm damage while supporting local economies. The Coastal Resilience Collaborative, the New Jersey Resilient Coastlines Initiative, and the NJ Climate Adaptation Alliance are bringing financial and tactical resources to bear on restoring reefs, wetlands, marshes and dunes.
Redefining Business with Environmental Restoration - An Op-Ed by Andrew Wu
Simply put, business in its current form is a disaster for the environment. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Imagine businesses that make money by improving the land and communities around them. Imagine an economy that rewards those who nourish and restore the environment, instead of those who plunder and degrade it. What would those businesses look like?
Meadowlark
Voices of Conservation Finance: An Interview with David Meyers
Allegra Wrocklage, Kat Friedrich
In this episode of the podcast "Voices of Conservation Finance," our guest was David Meyers, Senior Technical Advisor to the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) at the United Nations Development Programme. He was also recently hired as the first Executive Director of Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA).
Related Articles
Voices of Conservation Finance: An Interview with Bethany Olmstead
Allegra Wrocklage, Kat Friedrich
In this episode of "Voices of Conservation Finance," our guest was Bethany Olmstead, Conservation Manager with Working Forest Fund, a program of The Conservation Fund. She shared how her background in land conservation guides her work with The Conservation Fund to finance the acquisition and protection of forestland in the United States. She discussed how her passion for protecting land for wildlife habitat and public access can also provide economic benefits for local communities.
Could a Mature Timberland Asset Class Spur Conservation?
Chris Martin
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.
How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
Jeffrey Conti
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.
Plover
New Jersey Shields Its Fragile Shoreline Ecosystems
Kat Friedrich
Among the piping plovers and marsh grasses of New Jersey’s scenic coast, environmentalists and communities are busy creating green infrastructure to shield the shorelines from storm damage while supporting local economies. The Coastal Resilience Collaborative, the New Jersey Resilient Coastlines Initiative, and the NJ Climate Adaptation Alliance are bringing financial and tactical resources to bear on restoring reefs, wetlands, marshes and dunes.
Related Articles
How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
Jeffrey Conti
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.
Redefining Business with Environmental Restoration - An Op-Ed by Andrew Wu
Simply put, business in its current form is a disaster for the environment. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Imagine businesses that make money by improving the land and communities around them. Imagine an economy that rewards those who nourish and restore the environment, instead of those who plunder and degrade it. What would those businesses look like?

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External News
Where REDD+ Money Goes - And Doesn’t Go
Source: Forests News
A new study finds little private finance in REDD+ efforts and considers blended finance as a potential way forward.
External News
Plug Pulled on Program Paying Farmers to Conserve Colorado River Water
Source: News Deeply
A pilot program for irrigators in the Colorado River’s upper basin states will not continue past 2018, according to a recent decision by the Upper Colorado River Commission. But water conservation and storage remain a priority.
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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.

Nature's Returns: Investing in Ecosystem Services

The valuation of benefits that we derive from ecosystems is an increasingly popular realm of both the financial and the conservation worlds. This webinar series discusses the latest directions in ecosystem-benefits valuation and investment.

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Most Popular

  1. Tuna auction in China
    Investing in Sustainable Fisheries
    Kalyani Basu
    A total of 31.4 percent of global fisheries are being fished at biologically unsustainable levels, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. However, a 2016 study by Costello and others said the application of sound management reforms to global fisheries will increase biomass by 619 million metric tons relative to a business-as-usual scenario. One way to enable sustainable fisheries management is to target the activities of small-scale coastal fishing businesses.
  2. Ixtlan de Juarez forest
    The Economic Benefits of Mexico’s Community-Forest Management
    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.
  3. Upper St John River, Maine
    Forest Carbon Offsets
    Paula Chamas
    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.
  5. Maine river
    How to Get an Impact Investor's Attention
    Jeffrey Conti
    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.