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News focused on funding & financing
nature-based solutions
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| The Conservation Finance Network hosted our 20th Boot Camp earlier this month in New Haven, CT, and what a week it was! Thirty-nine practitioners from across the United States came together to learn about new sources of funding for conservation that ranged from state and local ballot measures to private investment, environmental impact bonds, and creative uses of philanthropy. We were joined by 31 expert faculty (including some Boot Camp alums!), who provided perspective and guidance on effective and innovative funding and financing tools. We also honored the Boot Camp’s founders, Peter Stein, Brad Gentry, and Story Clark for their vision and commitment to the CFN on the occasion of the 20th Boot Camp. Learning happens in community, and we thank all who joined us in New Haven: our founders, our participants, our partners at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, and especially our faculty for taking time to share their expertise with the Boot Camp. We enjoyed getting to know this year's group of Boot Camp attendees and look forward to following their work in the years ahead. For more about the Boot Camp, see this article by volunteer Steven Ring summarizing the week and some key insights.
It’s been a busy month for conservation finance on both sides of the Atlantic. This week, the third annual European Boot Camp, a collaborative effort with CFN and various European partners, is convening near Newcastle, England with a focus on ways to harness public, private, and philanthropic capital to conserve land and protect natural resources.
Onward together!
Katie Michels
Director of Partnerships
The Conservation Finance Network
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2025 Conservation Finance Boot Camp group photo
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2025 European Conservation Finance Boot Camp group photo
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Financial Sector Guidebook on Nature-Based Solutions Investment
This paper discusses key challenges in scaling Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) finance and provides a clear roadmap for financial institutions to follow, describing how financial institution can tap into NBS-related opportunities across: risk mitigation and portfolio resilience; sustainable financial growth; and emerging market opportunities and financial innovations. (World Resources Institute)
Revenues for Nature: Green Finance Institute Podcast Series
The Green Finance Institute recently launched a new special series of its Financing Nature podcast, titled Revenues for Nature. In this series, guests will talk about their experience developing models and mechanisms that are successfully unlocking investment in the private sector for nature restoration and nature-based solutions. (Green Finance Institute)
Virginia Uses Outcomes-Based Financing Model to Invest $19 Million in Grants to SUpport Pollution Reduction in Chesapeake Bay
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced $19 million in awards for nine innovative projects as part of the Pay-For-Outcomes Nonprofit Source Pollution Reduction grant program. This pilot program provides payments based on the amount of pollution directly removed or prevented from entering Chesapeake Bay. (Virginia Department of Environmental Quality)
What Just Happened with USDA's 2024 Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Awards?
Kari Cohen, Founder of Nine Steps Consulting, wrote an article highlighting the recent USDA award terminations and potential reasonings for them. The full list of awardees has not yet been posted. The federal government has earmarked RCPP funds for the next fiscal year in both the House and Senate versions of the upcoming bill. (LinkedIn)
The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Forest Carbon Project
In 2022, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, a Tribal Nation in Minnesota, reclaimed 28,000 acres of land. The Bois Forte Carbon Project, completed in 2025, will allow the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa to use proceeds from the sale of carbon credits to acquire and manage this land. (YouTube)
Partnerships for Indigenous Land Access and Return: A Summary of Legal and Relational Pathways
This report is the culmination of months of research, interviews and writing by the project partners at Tahoma Peak Solutions, The Land Trust Alliance and the Native Land Conservancy and has been shaped by an advisory team of Indigenous, legal and land trust leaders. The report profiles over 70 partnerships in service of land and access and return. The report aims to be a resource to Tribal Nations and Tribal Organizations and provide information on Indigenous land access and return. (Land Trust Alliance)
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