Forward-thinking nonprofits and environmentally driven investors are increasingly using blueprint reports to help develop conservation finance markets. Blueprints are in-depth proposals designed to provide investors and stakeholders with creative ways to source cash flows and investment opportunities within key conservation areas.

This article by Story Clark and Maki Tazawa is part of the Conservation Finance Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. Voluntary surcharge programs have raised millions of dollars for local land preservation. They are a financial tool for conservation in areas working to balance the draw of recreational and natural areas for visitors and the development pressures on those places.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), $3.5 trillion USD of clean energy investments is needed each year through 2050 to offset the rise in carbon emissions. At the same time, an underinvestment in global infrastructure has restricted reliable access to key resources such as energy, sanitation and water. A recent study, “The Financial Performance of Real Assets Impact Investments,” conducted by Cambridge Associates (CA) and Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), shows that investments in real asset impact funds can profitably address both of these issues and help improve the livelihoods of billions of people.

It’s no secret that land trusts nationwide are facing dwindling grant-funding sources for their land-acquisition work. They are being pushed to test new forms of financing. At Rally 2017: National Land Conservation Conference, which ran from Oct. 25-28 in Denver, three land trusts shared their experiences with one of these new tools – selling forest-carbon credits.

As severe wildfires leave their charred mark on the western United States this season, Conservation Finance Network interviewed Blue Forest Conservation staff about the Forest Resilience Bond project. This massive collaboration is bringing private finance to bear on ecological restoration to reduce the risk of these catastrophes.

Funneling money toward forest conservation in the developing world may sound easier than it is. Once one gets into the weeds of implementing sustainable-forestry-finance frameworks like REDD+ at an international level, the challenges of climate finance come to the surface. This year, the game plan is changing to expand this financing space. United States nonprofits and investors will have new opportunities to help rainforest conservation flourish.

What if the development of these approaches could be responsibly accelerated? What if we could shorten the time it takes for environmental markets and investment vehicles to be defined, piloted, scaled, and matured—without cutting corners? The Conservation Finance Network’s recent report, “Private Capital and Working Lands Conservation: A Market Development Framework,” responds to these questions by translating practitioner insight into a framework and common language in the hope of speeding solutions to market development. The report attempts to describe how stakeholders could better delineate their roles and focus their money and authority. It is meant to help stakeholders set realistic...

Timing can make or break a conservation deal. Land trusts and other conservation groups often work with motivated sellers who must divest property by a certain date or are otherwise eager to close deals quickly. The organizations must either gather the required financing on the sellers’ short timelines or forego the projects. When organizations are short on cash but deem projects too important to ignore, conservation loans can bridge the financing gaps.

If you live in Northern California today, health researchers may be watching your house from above. This unprecedented project is tracking the impact of urban forestry on health expenses by correlating trees’ locations with medical data from Kaiser Permanente. The researchers’ goal is to advocate on Capitol Hill for nationwide investment in urban forestry to prune medical costs. They also plan to develop an online cost savings estimation tool that communities throughout the United States can use.

There is a high level of uncertainty about federal funding for land conservation over the next four years. The recently passed 2017 budget has kept many conservation-related programs and funds intact, but 2018 may be a different story. The administration’s proposed budget calls for broad cuts to conservation funding, but Congress makes the final decision on appropriations.