The Promises and Pitfalls of Private Investment in Conservation
November 30, 2020

“Innovative Finance for Conservation: Roles for Ecologists and Practitioners” co-authored by Peter Arcese, Janis Sarra and Amanda Rodewald was released by the Ecological Society of America (ESA) today.
The report is a direct outcome of the March 2018 International Research Roundtable: “Promise and Peril: Design and Application of Conservation Finance Models to Biodiversity Conservation, Human Well-Being and Sustainability”.
It explores how privately financed conservation projects can generate both financial returns and positive conservation outcomes and offers guidelines for developing standardized, ethical and effective conservation finance projects.
Public and philanthropic sources currently supply most of the funds for protecting and conserving species and ecosystems. However, the private sector is now driving demand for market-based mechanisms that support conservation projects with positive environmental, social and financial returns. Examples of projects that can support this triple bottom line include green infrastructure for stormwater management, clean transport projects and sustainable production of food and fiber products.