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2027 ILCN Global Congress: Save the Date
October 26-29, 2027 | Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

Mark your calendar for the 2027 ILCN Global Congress, co‑hosted by the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA). Learn more on the newly launched Congress webpage and sign up to receive updates. 

Learn More about ILCN27
Call for Nominations: 2027 Conservation Visionary Awards

At each Global Congress, the ILCN recognizes conservation visionaries who are setting strategically significant global precedents. Nominations are now open for outstanding leaders and organizations to be celebrated at the 2027 ILCN Global Congress. Nominations will close on September 1, 2026.

Nominate a Conservation Visionary
Nominations Open: 2026 Conservation Innovation Award

The ILCN is now accepting nominations for the annual Conservation Innovation Award, which celebrates landmark innovations in land conservation policy and practice. The award provides a $10,000 stipend intended to foster the transfer and adaptation of conservation innovation around the globe. Nominations are due by June 30, 2026.

Nominate a Conservation Innovator
Featured Content
A private forest landscape in the Northern Western Ghats. Credit: AERF India
 
Working with Private Landowners to Conserve Biodiversity-Rich Forests in India's Northern Western Ghats
Jayant Sarnaik, Archana Godbole, Gunwant Mahajan
March 19, 2026
 
The Western Ghats of India is among the most heavily populated biodiversity hotspots in the world, providing critical land and water resources to more than 400 million people across six Indian states. Running approximately 1,000 miles from north to south along the western edge of the Deccan plateau, the mountain range hosts 30% of the country’s biodiversity despite representing just 6% of its land area. In its northern districts, private landowners steward the majority of existing forest lands. The Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) has led a remarkable initiative over the past two decades to work with these communities in the Western Ghats to conserve threatened biodiversity in unprotected forest landscapes.

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RPPN Morro Das Aranhas. Credit: Ciro Couto

The Emergence and Evolution of Private Natural Heritage Reserves in Brazil
Hernán Mladinic
March 19, 2026

Over the past three decades, a transformative force for nature conservation has emerged in Brazil: private landowners. The country’s leadership in private land conservation through private natural heritage reserves (RPPNs) has resulted in one of the world’s most robust and enduring voluntary conservation models. The approach integrates property rights with a perpetual ecological responsibility and now serves as an example within and beyond Latin America. This feature offers a panoramic view of the history, legal framework, achievements, challenges, and opportunities of RPPNs in Brazil.

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News from the ILCN
ILCN Director Chandni Navalkha to Co-Chair IUCN WCPA Privately Protected Areas Specialist Group
March 19, 2026

Chandni Navalkha, Director of Conservation and Stewardship at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and James Fitzsimons, Senior Advisor, Global Protection Strategies at The Nature Conservancy, will co-chair the International of Union for the Conservation of Nature World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN WCPA) Privately Protected Areas Specialist Group for the 2026-2029 period.
China Expands its Conservation Horizons: Potential OECMs Cases
Shenmin Liu and Chunyue Wei
March 19, 2026

In a significant step toward meeting national biodiversity conservation targets, conservationists in China have released a second set of potential "Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures" (OECMs) cases in China. 

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Notes From the Field

What we're reading, watching, and listening to
The Benchmarking Report on Biodiversity Certification and Credit Systems for European Wetlands
March 6, 2026
 
With their project LIFE Biodiv CrEW, Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and its partners stepped into the exciting new field of biodiversity credits, seeking to assess the market, select and test promising schemes for the restoration of European wetlands. The publication of a new benchmarking report by project partner bloomlabs is a major milestone along that path.

Learn More
New ALCA Resource Explores Australia's Spend on Nature
March 12, 2026

The Australian Land Conservation Alliance's new Nature Spend Tracker, created with Cyan Ventures, delivers the first national snapshot of Australia's annual investment in nature. With an accompanying Insights Report, it reveals funding flows, gaps, and trends to support smarter planning and investment.

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Trading Green: How Transferable Tax Credits Supercharge Conservation Easements
March 18, 2026

This new report from the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) highlights how transferable tax credits can strengthen conservation efforts while providing meaningful benefits to landowners.

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Posaidon Publishes 2026 Nature Finance Market Outlook
February 27, 2026
 
Posaidon Capital recently released their 2026 Nature Finance Market outlook profiling the current state of nature finance. It identifies one of the biggest barriers to deploying capital is institutional infrastructure, not investor appetite.

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Report on the 2025 International Symposium on Conservation Impact
February 12, 2026
 
The Salazar Center for North American Conservation has released its report from the 2025 International Symposium on Conservation Impact. The report highlights the symposium’s major themes and takeaways, underscoring the urgency of meeting global biodiversity goals, the central role of Indigenous leadership, and the importance of ensuring durable, long‑term conservation outcomes.

Learn More
Recent Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Working Papers
Upcoming Events
Society for Conservation Biology: Virtual Seminar Series on Conservation Impact Evaluation and Implementation Science
 
The Impact Evaluation Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology is running a virtual seminar series that brings leading researchers and practitioners together to share insights on evaluating and improving conservation outcomes. Sessions are open to a broad audience, and recordings of previous monthly seminars are available on their page.
 
Online
First Tuesday of every month
Learn More
ILCN Webinar: Storytelling and Communication for Conservation
 
Telling a story can change the way the world sees conservation. In a time when images, emotions, and short messages make all the difference, learning to communicate with purpose has become essential for those working to protect nature. 

This webinar invites participants to reflect on how to turn experiences into narratives that connect with new audiences, inspire engagement, and mobilize support. Guided by experts in communication and conservation, we will explore how to identify key messages, choose the right platforms, and use images, videos, and stories to extend the reach and impact of our work.
 
Online, in Spanish with live English interpretation
April 15 12:00-13:30 ET
Register
Webinar: From Policy to Practice-
Unlocking Wetland Restoration through Markets, Regulation, and Communities
 
Following four successful sessions, the Wetlands in Action webinar series returns with its fifth edition, continuing to explore how science, innovation, and cross-project collaboration are advancing wetland restoration across Europe.

The fifth session, entitled “From Policy to Practice: Unlocking Wetland Restoration through Markets, Regulation and Communities”, will focus on how policy frameworks, market mechanisms, and community engagement can help accelerate wetland restoration efforts across Europe.
 
Online
April 21, 10:00-11:30 CEST
Register
Webinar: Biodiversity Credits in Practice -
First lessons learned from piloting biodiversity credits in European wetlands
 
Organized by Eurosite, bloomlabs, aeco, Sylva, NABU and the European Landowners’ Organization as part of the LIFE BiodivCrEW project, this webinar will explore how biodiversity credits are being tested in European wetlands and what early implementation experience can teach us about project design, eligibility requirements and financial flows. The webinar will be moderated by Martin Pilstjärna, co-founder of the Nordic Nature Market Initiative (NNMI), a newly founded NGO that supports developing nature markets in the Nordic region.

Online
April 22, 10:00-11:50 CET
Register
6th ESP Europe Conference: Advancing ecosystem services knowledge for achieving a nature and people positive Europe
 
This conference will bring together scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to explore how ecosystem services can be harnessed to reduce social inequalities, strengthen climate resilience, and drive sustainable development. In light of ongoing implementation of new policies at national and EU levels, discussions will also examine how shifts in governance frameworks influence the integration of ecosystem services into decision-making, policy implementation, and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Prague, Czechia
May 18-22, 2026
Register
Western Collaborative Conservation Network Confluence 2026
 
Confluence 2026 is a national gathering for collaborative conservation practitioners, researchers, students, and emerging leaders who are working to address complex social and environmental challenges in the United States. It is hosted by the Western Collaborative Conservation Network at Colorado State University's Center for Collaborative Conservation. 

This unique event brings people together to learn, share, and build relationships that strengthen the future of collaboration. While Confluence is rooted in the Western United States, it welcomes participants and perspectives from across the country.

Fort Collins, CO, USA
May 19-21, 2026
Register
2026 Australian Conservation Finance Intensive: Leveraging Climate for Nature Finance
 
The Australian Land Conservation Alliance’s 2026 Conservation Finance Intensive is a practical, cross-sector forum focused on how climate disclosure, standards and finance can be leveraged to unlock credible, investible nature outcomes.

With nature increasingly recognized as a material risk and opportunity, the 2026 Intensive has been designed to support real-world application, connecting climate disclosure with sustainable finance frameworks, and on-the-ground conservation delivery with investment decision-making and impact.
 
Melbourne, Australia and Online
May 26, 2026
Learn More
EU Green Week 2026: Investing in a Nature Positive Economy
 
Organized by DG Environment, this conference will explore how nature can be a driver for EU citizens’ prosperity and quality of life, provide inspiration and put nature in its due place on the political agenda.  

Together with policymakers, investors, urban planners, businesses, naturalists, farmers and civil society, we will explore how nature-positive models work in practice, focusing on profitable sustainable farming, soil-health innovations, greening cities, and exciting new opportunities to reverse rural flight. 
 
Brussels, Belgium
June 3-4, 2026
Learn More
International Conference on Landcare and Sustainable Agriculture in the Indo-Pacific
 
Tropical ecosystems are among the most biodiverse on the planet, featuring rich habitats and complex, often competing demands on land use. This conference will spotlight evidence‑based challenges and opportunities for building sustainable agricultural systems within tropical landscapes. It will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and farmers to explore sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, and community‑driven approaches to landscape management across the Indo‑Pacific region.

Nadi, Fiji
July 8-10, 2026
Learn More
Global Nature Positive Summit
 
The Global Nature Positive Summit is an international event focused on accelerating efforts to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), agreed by 196 countries in 2022 with a commitment to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. The Summit will showcase bold examples from around the world, charting a path toward a nature-positive future in business, finance, and governance. 

Kumamoto, Japan
July 14-16, 2026
Learn More
 IUCN Australian Committee Symposium: 30x30 and Beyond

The IUCN Australian Committee is convening 30x30 and Beyond from 20–22 July, an interactive symposium exploring Australia’s progress toward conserving 30% of land, waters, and seas and preparing for the 2027 IUCN World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress.

Sydney, Australia
July 20-22, 2026
Learn More
We are excited to share stories from ILCN members. If you have a conservation initiative, opportunity, or event to share, please contact us at ILCN@lincolninst.edu.
The mission of the International Land Conservation Network is to connect organizations and people around the world that are accelerating voluntary private and civic sector action that protects and stewards land and water resources. 

Learn more at landconservationnetwork.org.
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