Project Context & Opportunity

Landscape restoration projects often incorporate Nature Positive Enterprise (NPE) development and other sustainable financing mechanisms within project activities. However, non-government organisations implementing restoration projects face practical barriers to developing NPEs in their landscapes. These include identifying appropriate products or industries, access to business expertise and technical support, knowledge of how to design enterprises to achieve biodiversity impact, and access to appropriate sources of finance. This project aimed to build understanding and capacity amongst those responsible for facilitating NPE development, through the development and delivery of structured training, resources and case studies, alongside mentoring by experts in the field.

Project Outputs & Achievements 

From this project, Fauna & Flora and the Cambridge Judge Business School have developed Guidance on setting up and running small and medium enterprises for nature restoration and conservation which is freely available in English and Russian. The project has also created an associated Toolkit and Guidance document on Developing Strategic Partnerships for Nature-Positive Enterprises which is particularly relevant for building partnerships to capitalise on business opportunities at a landscape scale. These outputs form a body of knowledge which, together with the capacity improvement, will increase the quality and quantity of support provided to NPEs being conceived or developed as part of restoring landscapes.

Nascent NPEs now have improved access to specialist knowledge and information, whilst projects themselves have been provided with tools and training that reduces the workload and increases impact of their staff. Participants were given the opportunity to network and pitch to donors and investors in NPEs, building better relationships between financers and projects, increasing mutual understanding and improving access to finance for NPEs. 

In addition to the increase in capacity for staff responsible for NPE development, the project has built a community of practice around this topic through shared participation in testing materials and case study development. The new trainings and resources have been integrated into the on–going NPE support activities and communications platforms of the Endangered Landscapes Programme and Cambridge Conservation Initiative partners.

Ultimately, this work will enable more NPEs to be developed in target landscapes, contributing to improvements in biodiversity through increased funding for restoration, improved incentives for land managers and users to protect and restore biodiversity, and increased sustainability and resilience of local economies. 

Project Partners