Resources & Education
2018 ILCN Global Congress in Santiago, Chile
Highlights from our 2018 ILCN Global Congress in Chile.
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Financing Green Infrastructure with Environmental Impact Bonds
Chesapeake Bay Foundation video on Financing Green Infrastructure with Environmental Impact Bonds
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Webinars: State of Forest Carbon Finance
Forest Trends
Series of webinars based on the State of Forest Carbon Finance report (2017).
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State of Biodiversity Mitigation 2017
Bennett, Gallant, and ten Kate
This report shows how smart mitigation policies can leverage new financial resources and momentum in pursuit of “no net loss” of biodiversity, complementing traditional conservation strategies such as protected areas.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, September 2017
ILCN
Expanding the Toolbox for Conservation, from Canada, to California, Chile and South Africa's Western Cape
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Beyond the Source: The environmental, economic and community benefits of source water protection
Abell, R., et al. (2017)
This report by The Nature Conservancy analyzes 4,000 cities to demonstrate the health, climate and biodiversity benefits of source water protection.
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Impact Investing in Sustainable Food and Agriculture across Asset Classes: Financing Resilient Value Chains through Total Portfolio Activation
Kristin Lang, Joshua Humphreys, and Andreea Rodinciuc
This paper has a specific focus on impact investing in sustainable food and agriculture across asset classes. At a time when farmers, entrepreneurs and companies are increasingly rising to the growing demand for more transparent, organic and local food supply chains, investors have a critical role to play in financing stronger links locally, nationally and globally.
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Environmental Funds Tool Kit
Conservation Finance Alliance
This Tool Kit shares the experiences of contributing Environmental Funds – their legal documents, manuals, plans, and communications materials. There are approx. 40 Environmental Funds – also called Conservation Trust Funds – with a biodiversity conservation focus, established around the globe. Environmental Funds are internationally recognized for their role in channeling global funds to support national conservation priorities.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, July 2017
Updates from Argentina, Romania, Panama, the IUCN, and the world of finance
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State of Private Investment in Conservation 2016: A Landscape Assessment of an Emerging Market
Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace
This report tracks the burgeoning field of “conservation investing” – a component of socially and environmentally conscious “impact investing.” The private sector channeled $8.2 billion (B) of private capital into investments that seek measurable environmental benefits – in addition to financial returns – between 2004 and 2015.
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Conservation Finance From Niche to Mainstream: The Building of an Institutional Asset Class
Credit Suisse et al.
A toolkit for substantially growing the investment that flows into the conservation sector, illustrated by a few concrete ideas that we deem to be scalable, repeatable, and investable.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, May 2017
Announcing the ILCN's 2018 Global Congress, introducing the ELCN, World Environment Day, and more
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Private Capital for Working Lands Conservation
The Conservation Finance Network
A new report from the Conservation Finance Network translates practitioner insight into a framework and common language to describe the way in which conservation finance markets materialize and mature.
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IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas Releases Guidance for Managing Protected Areas in the Face of Climate Change
Guidance from the IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas for protected areas managers and planners.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, March 2017
Updates from the ILCN team, new regulations in South Africa and Catalonia to advance private land conservation efforts, and more...
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Report on the Workshop on Emerging Innovations in Conservation Finance
In September 2016, 63 conservation practitioners, private landowners, finance experts, and elected officials from eight counties, primarily in the Americas, gathered in Chile to build on and sharpen concepts that are making, or have the potential to make, a substantial impact on conservation finance in the Western Hemisphere and beyond. This report is a compendium of the topics discussed at that gathering.
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ILCN Webinar: What does the Paris Climate Agreement mean for land conservation organizations?
Join conservation finance experts to learn how land conservation organizations can engage in the Paris Climate Agreement framework.
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BirdLife South Africa Tax Incentive Used
BirdLife South Africa
BirdLife South Africa's Fiscal Benefits Project has successfully included the very first biodiversity tax incentive for Nature Reserves in an annual tax return. Section 37D allows a landowner who has declared a Nature Reserve to deduct the value of the land from their taxable income. This was achieved on behalf of a landowner for the very first time in South Africa at the end of 2016.
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Landscape Connectivity: A call to action
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Creating landscapes with healthy, functioning ecosystems is not only key to making progress towards the environmental targets embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals, but also to addressing multiple social and economic targets that depend partly or wholly on the benefits that ecosystems provide to people.
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Angelo Salsi's Remarks at 2016 Rally
Angelo Salsi, Head of the LIFE Unit at the European Commission, remarks on private land conservation at 2016 Land Trust Alliance Rally.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, January 2017
Happy New Year and stories of efforts to designate the Niagara River North America's first transborder Ramsar site, to conserve private land along the Rio Bita in Colombia, to advance Natura 2000 through the new European Solidarity Corps, and more
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Green Bonds and Land Conservation: A New Investment Landscape?
Mansfield duPont, C., Levitt, J. N. & Bilmes, L. J.
Green bonds are experiencing explosive growth, but are they a useful new financing tool to bridge conservation funding shortfalls or just the latest chapter in greenwashing?
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ILCN e-Newsletter, December 2016
A review of the ILCN Cross-Border Workshop, payments for ecosystem services schemes in Uganda, the Australian Land Conservation Alliance Conference, and US updates on how land fared in the election and the latest land trust census results.
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Technical guidelines for the design and management of participatory connectivity conservation and restoration projects at the landscape scale in Latin America
Herrera Fernández, Bernal
This document recounts the authors’ experience in participatory conservation processes that seek terrestrial biodiversity connectivity. Its documentation of this experience hopefully can contribute to the conservation and restoration of ecological connectivity in other parts of Latin America and the world.
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Nature-based solutions to address global societal challenges
Cohen-Shacham, E., Walters, G., Janzen, C. and Maginnis, S. (eds.)
This report has been prepared as part of an effort by IUCN to define its position on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and plan for future work to advance this concept and support effective implementation of NbS to enhance ecosystem services provision and address societal challenges.
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Chile is destined to be one of the most important green focus points on the planet
Javier Rodriquez, English adaptation
Interview with Jim Levitt that appeared in Que Pasa, a leading Chilean news magazine, on Friday, September 30, 2016 in relation to the Workshop on Innovations in Conservation Finance. English language adaptation of the interview, with several corrections and clarifications.
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Chile está llamado a ser uno de los focos verdes más importantes del planeta
Javier Rodríguez
Interview with Jim Levitt that appeared in Que Pasa, a leading Chilean news magazine, on Friday, September 30, 2016 in relation to the Workshop on Innovations in Conservation Finance. (Spanish language)
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Video on the Workshop on Innovations in Conservation Finance
This video of the Workshop on Innovations in Conservation Finance was put together by workshop hosts, Las Majadas de Pirque.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, September 2016
A review of the World Conservation Congress, the burgeoning Land Trust Reserve movement in China, and the ILCN's workshop on innovations in Conservation Finance.
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A primer on governance for protected and conserved areas
Borrini-Feyerabend, G., P. Bueno, T. Hay-Edie, B. Lang, A. Rastogi and T. Sandwith
As understanding of governance and related policy and practices is evolving throughout the world, the IUCN shares a basic lexicon in the hope that speaking “a common language” may help to better communicate and develop concepts of increasing clarity and meaning.
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Voluntary non-monetary approaches for implementing conservation
Santangeli, A., et al.
The voluntary non-monetary approach to conservation refers to actions that citizens or organizations could voluntarily implement in their area of influence without the incentive of monetary compensations. Authors suggest that a voluntary, non-monetary approach could be widely applicable across many countries and environments.
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ILCN e-Newsletter, July 2016
Celebrating the Derecho Real de Conservacion and partnership between Trust for Nature and Bank Australia.
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Integration of private land conservation areas in a network of statutory protected areas: Implications for sustainability
Maciejewskia, K., et al.
Researchers interviewed 90 private land conservation area managers and 30 statutory reserve managers in the Western Cape Province of South Africa about their interactions with other managers, finding that fostering collaboration in private land conservation networks should enhance their long-term sustainability and effectiveness, increasing their global conservation contribution.
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"Everyday (Siku ni Siku)" Music Video
Produced in partnership with the Berklee College of Music, this video features an original song, “Everyday (Siku ni Siku)” highlighting the significance of the ILCN’s mission...
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Guide to Conservation Finance
World Wildlife Fund
This guide informs field practitioners about which of the available financing mechanisms they could apply to achieve their conservation aims. The various mechanisms are illustrated with short case studies that demonstrate both successes and challenges.
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Conservation Finance Glossary
Conservation Finance Network
A glossary of conservation-related abbreviations, acronyms and terms.
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ICL Leadership Podcast
Institute for Conservation Leadership
Hosted by Kurt Thompson, this podcast series will keep you informed and connected with people in the field by featuring conversations on leadership, strategy, and collaboration.
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Nature’s Returns: Investing in Ecosystem Services Webinar Series
Center for Business and the Environment at Yale
This series of free, public webinars features an introduction to the topic of Ecosystem Services and the perspective of practitioners in the field from the NGO side and the investment community. Conservationists and investors are hoping to achieve a win-win for the economy and the environment.
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Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
Produced for the European Commission, DG Environment by the Science Communication Unit, UWE, Bristol
This In-Depth Report explores four core facets of the ecosystem services concept: the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services; current techniques for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services; valuation of ecosystem services and the importance of considering all ecosystem services and biodiversity as part of an interconnected system....
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ILCN e-Newsletter, May 2016
ILCN will be at Rally in October. Updates from Armenia and Chile....
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Kinship Conservation Fellows Webinar Series
The Kinship Fellows webinars expand on themes presented during the month-long Kinship Conservation Fellows training program in order to provide global conservation leaders with access to case studies that demonstrate market-based tools. With mid-career professionals in mind, the series provides skills-based sessions on topics such as communications, marketing, and business....
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ILCN e-Newsletter, March 2016
Inaugural e-newsletter for the ILCN, with updates from, and since, the 2015 Berlin Congress....
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Exemplary Conservation Leadership in New England and Across Six Continents (webinar)
The session features two leaders who are instrumental in shaping new models for land conservation in the northeastern United States and around the globe....
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The Role of Network Bridging Organisations in Compensation Payments for Agri-Environmental Services under the EU Common Agricultural Policy
Ecological Economics
This study found that farmers who have periodic contacts with network bridging organisations that foster cooperation and social learning in the agri-environmental landscapes show a higher commitment to change. Support for network bridging organisations is foreseen under the EU Leader programme and the EU regulation 1306/2013....
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Profitability and Sustainability in Responsible Forestry; Economic Impacts of FSC Certification on Forest Operations
WWF Report: 2015
This study seeks to advance knowledge about the impact of FSC certification on a company’s “bottom line” through primary research on 11 forestry entities operating across four continents. More than 500 original data points are analysed to assess upfront investments, annual costs, annual benefits, and the overall net present value (NPV) of the decision to pursue FSC certification. ...
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Exploring the permanence of conservation covenants
Conservation Letters; A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
This study examined release and breach data from all 13 major covenanting programs across Australia. Authors also use results to argue that multi-party covenants appear an enduring conservation mechanism, highlight the important role that effective monitoring and reporting of the permanency of these agreements plays in contributing to their long-term effectiveness, and provide recommendations for organizations seeking to improve their monitoring programs....
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Proceedings of the First Congress of the International Land Conservation Network (Letter/8.5 x 11 in)
International Land Conservation Network
In recognition of the growing importance of private and civic land conservation around the globe, conservationists from six continents joined together to mark the public launch of the International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) at the Network's First Congress in Berlin, Germany on October 19-21, 2015. This document summarizes the presentations and discussions from that gathering....
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Proceedings of the First Congress of the International Land Conservation Network (A4)
In recognition of the growing importance of private and civic land conservation around the globe, conservationists from six continents joined together to mark the public launch of the International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) at the Network's First Congress in Berlin, Germany on October 19-21, 2015. This document summarizes the presentations and discussions from that gathering....
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Private landowners, voluntary conservation programs, and implementation of conservation friendly land management practices
Conservation Letters; A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
Private land conservation mechanisms are critical components employed by policy makers and conservation professionals to support the stewardship and protection of vital ecosystem services. This study explored perceptions of landowners with property enrolled in the Indiana Classified Forest and Wildlands Program in U.S.A....
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LIFE and Land Stewardship; Current Status, Challenges and Opportunities
Report to the European Commission
This report focuses on the LIFE program and its contribution to establishing land stewardship approaches in the EU. The main purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of the LIFE program in engaging private stakeholders in nature conservation and to explore further opportunities to do so in future LIFE projects. ...
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Reviving Europe’s Biodiversity By Importing Exotic Animals
Yale Environment 360
Scientists are conducting intriguing — and counterintuitive — experiments at several sites in Germany: Bringing back long-lost herbivores, such as water buffalo, to encourage the spread of native plants that have fared poorly in Europe’s human-dominated landscape....
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An Introduction to Conservation Easements in the United States: A Simple Concept and a Complicated Mosaic of Law
Social Science Research Network
This publication provides a context for the development and implementation of conservation easements in the United States, as well as an overview of relevant legal and policy issues....
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Uniform Conservation Easement Act
Uniform Law Commission
Copy of the Uniform Conservation Easement Act as approved by the National Conference in 1981....
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Conserving Land Privately: Spontaneous Markets for Land Conservation in Chile
Land Trust Alliance
This article discusses how the free market may provide unexpected help for land conservation, and details the spontaneous market phenomenon of private landowners buying land for conservation purposes in Chile. ...
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Wildlands and Woodlands Report
Harvard Forest
This report from the Harvard Forest, Harvard University urges the people and Commonwealth of Massachusetts to launch a bold, comprehensive initiative to conserve Wildlands and Woodlands in New England, and the ecological and social values they possess....
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Company Reserves; Integrating Biological Reserves Owned and Managed by Commercial Companies into the Global Protected Areas Network- A Review of Options
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
This paper looks at the options for developing company protected areas, current initiatives and implications and gives recommendations for future developments....
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Conserving the Stage: Climate Change and the Geophysical Underpinnings of Species Diversity
PLOS One
This study tested how well geology predicts the species diversity of 14 US states and 3 Canadian provinces, using a comprehensive new spatial dataset. The results of this study suggest that protecting geophysical settings will conserve the stage for current and future biodiversity and may be a robust alternative to species-level predictions....
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The Private Lands Conservation Initiative in Chile (a chapter within Conservation Capital in the Americas, ed. James Levitt)
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
The Chilean Private Lands Conservation Initiative is the product of a unique, synergistic, and well-timed collaboration. The Private Lands Initiative stands close to success: passing legislation to provide critical public and private incentives necessary to unleash the enormous potential of private lands conservation in Chile....
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Globalizing Conservation Easements: Private Law Approaches for International Environmental Protection
Wisconsin International Law Journal
This article will provide a framework of the major policy and legal issues that could, and in the author's view should, inform a country’s decision to adopt private conservation restrictions. ...
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America's Working Lands: Farm Bill Programs and Landscape-scale Conservation
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Affirming the substantial national conservation and ecosystem benefits associated with farmlands, ranchlands, and forests, every Farm Bill since 1985 has included a section dedicated to conservation programs....
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[Policy Focus Report] Large Landscape Conservation: A Strategic Framework for Policy and Action
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
In response to increasing activity at the large landscape scale, leaders from the public, private and nongovernmental sectors participated in two national policy dialogues and many other informal discussions in 2009....
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Forest of the Future; Financing biodiversity, water quality and climate change mitigation in the Big River and Salmon Creek Forests of California
The North Coast Conservation Program, The Conservation Fund
Description of programs that provide financial incentives to landowners to achieve significant habitat conservation, water and air quality enhancements, and economic development options....
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Perpetual Conservation Easements in the 21st Century: What Have We Learned and Where Should We Go From Here?
S.J. Quinney College of Law, The University of Utah
This article details the growth in the use of conservation easements by nonprofit organizations in the United States, and places it within a larger legal context and framework of the various laws that impact the creation, administration and implementation of such conservation easements....
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Caring Together for Nature; Manual on land stewardship as a tool to promote social involvement with the natural environment in Europe
Land LIFE Program, Government of Catalonia
This manual is a product of the LIFE+ funded project "LandLife: Boosting land stewardship as a conservation tool in the western Mediterranean arc: a communication and training scheme" ...
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Planning for Conservation Priorities Across Community Values: An Evaluation of the Conservation Priority Setting Methodology as Developed by Perlman and Western Lands and Communities
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
This working paper summarizes a conservation priority setting approach in the western US and evaluates its success. In addition, a review of the current field of conservation planning is provided along with suggestions regarding CPSM's place within this larger field and its potential for future implementation....
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The Uniform Conservation Easement Act: Reflections of a Member of the Drafting Committee
Utah Law Review, Utah Environmental Law Review
This article describes the process in which the Uniform Conservation Easement Act (UCEA) was first created in the United States. The UCEA, which the Uniform Law Commission adopted in 1981, has since been adopted in whole or substantial part by almost half of the states in the United States of America, and remains to this day, a landmark conservation legal innovation in America's conservation history....
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NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE Investing in Forested Landscapes for Source Water Protection in the United States
World Resources Institute,
This guide, one of the most comprehensive of its kind, threads together the experience and insights of over 50 authors from the front lines of source water protection efforts. ...
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From the Margins to the Mainstream Assessment of the Impact Investment Sector and Opportunities to Engage Mainstream Investors
World Economic Forum
At its Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2012, the World Economic Forum brought together mainstream investors, impact investors and social entrepreneurs to discuss how to harness the potential of impact investing. ...
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The Greater Quabbin Conservation Investment Zone Assessment
The Program on Conservation Innovation, Harvard Forest, Harvard University
The purpose of this report is to suggest that a coordinated and more integrated approach to conservation and economic development in the Greater Quabbin is not only feasible, but also holds considerable promise. ...
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Environmental Impact Bonds
Duke University Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship
This paper serves as the environmental response to a McKinsey & Company paper on Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) issued in May 2012. SIBs are the “hot topic” in the world of impact investing, yet few are discussing the possibility of applying the SIB model to environmental causes....
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Conservation Easements in the U.S. and Abroad: Reflections and Views toward the Future
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
In 2012, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy sponsored a panel at an international conference on agriculture and forestry to expose U.S. practice with land trusts and conservation easements, and to ask questions about the transferability of the U.S. experience to other countries....
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One Backyard: The First National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Land Lines
This article is written in response to the First National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation in October, 2014. Landscape-level conservation—the term is still relatively new—is a different way of making sense of the world, and of assessing and nurturing its health. ...
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Expanding Horizons; Highlights from the National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation
Report Partners: Practitioners' Network for Large Landscape Conservation, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, National Park Service Stewardship Institute, Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment
This report is designed to summarize key facets and findings from the field of large landscape conservation, as discussed in the National Workshop of Large Landscape Conservation, Washington D.C. in October 2014....
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Shortfalls and Solutions for Meeting National and Global Conservation Area Targets
Conservation Letters; A Journal for the Society for Conservation Biology
The existing Protected Area network needs only an additional 3.3 million square kilometers to achieve 17% global terrestrial coverage. Such extensive and rapid expansion of formal Protected Areas is unlikely to be achievable. Greater focus is therefore needed on alternative approaches, including community- and privately managed sites....
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State of the Rainforest Report
GRID Arendal, A Centre Collaborating with UNEP
This is the third "State of the Rainforest" report published by the Rainforest Foundation Norway. It details stories of how communities actively protect their forests, and underscores that solutions for the global problem of tropical deforestation must be built on local experiences....
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Conservation Finance Moving beyond donor funding toward an investor-driven approach
Credit Suisse
This report shows that there are many unexploited private sector investment opportunities to increase conservation finance and deliver maximum conservation impacts while, at the same time, generating returns for investors....
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INVESTIGATING the SCALABLE MODELS of the FUTURE
Credit Suisse
A 2014 meeting hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco brought together leading practitioners to discuss successful conservation finance deals and innovative transactional structures. The focus was on ideas that are scalable and repeatable and that generate returns for investors. The goal of the workshop was to facilitate the emergence of an investor-driven approach to conservation...
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Investing in Conservation; A Landscape Assessment of an emerging market
NatureVest
As the impact investment market has grown in recent years, so has the research coverage across sectors and thematic areas of focus. This report presents the first study of the market for conservation-related impact investments....
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The Futures of Privately Protected Areas; Developing Capacity for a Protected Planet
International Union for the Conservation of Nature
The project arose because of a concern that privately protected areas deserve to be fully recognized, better integrated with national and regional conservation policies, encouraged and supported. This is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) first comprehensive report on the status of privately protected areas and how to best protect them. ...
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The Global Reach of Land Trust Organizations
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
This paper is a summary of the author’s reflections gained from the many interactions he has had over the past 18 months with land trust practitioners, academics and government agency leaders on several continents....
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An Open Field: Emerging Opportunities for a Global Private Land Conservation Movement
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
This paper explores the history of the land trust movement in the US, looks at specific examples of the growing private land conservation movement around the globe, and proposes a model that includes a framework of legal, financial and organizational elements....
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Conservation on Private Land: A Review of Global Strategies with a Proposed Classification System
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
With parks and protected areas insufficient to sustain global biodiversity, the role of private land in biodiversity conservation is increasingly significant. This paper proposes a classification system for private land conservation as a complement to IUCN's classification of global protected areas. ...
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Alternative Ways to Support Private Land Conservation
European Commission
This report for the European Commission extensively details current global trends occurring in private land conservation. It offers analysis of such trends and also suggests alternative methodologies for performing private land conservation in different areas of the world depending on legal, governance, and financial structures....
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