Nature Positive Enterprises
Building capacity in nature-positive enterprise development.
Aligning economic incentives with conservation can unlock the resources and support needed to scale up restoration. Nature-positive enterprises link sustainable business models with biodiversity recovery and resilient local economies.
Many organisations face practical barriers when developing these enterprises. Challenges include identifying viable products, accessing business and technical expertise, designing ventures that deliver biodiversity impact, and securing suitable finance. At the landscape scale, collaboration between communities, governments and businesses is essential to align economic activity with conservation goals.
Despite these hurdles, nature-positive enterprises offer major opportunities. They can promote sustainable land use, support inclusive livelihoods, and help restore ecosystems at scale.
What the project did
The project developed training materials, resources and case studies to build capacity in nature-positive enterprise development, including practical guidance on creating and managing small and medium-sized businesses that support conservation and restoration. A complementary partnership toolkit was also created to help organisations build effective collaborations and unlock sustainable business opportunities.
In the next phase, the project worked with two partner organisations to develop landscape-level theories of change through a series of structured partnership workshops, identifying actions to support both nature-positive economic development and landscape restoration.
The partnership toolkit was tested in practice and refined based on partner feedback, resulting in formal guidance and an assessment template to support practitioners in developing strategic partnerships that can scale impact. At the same time, the nature-positive enterprise toolkit was updated to better reflect social and equity considerations.
Three half-day online workshops were conducted, bringing together partners and ELSP grantees from across Europe to exchange experiences and lessons on establishing and maintaining partnerships for nature-positive enterprises. The updated tools and guidance were also introduced to participants.
Outputs
Practitioner’s toolkit for nature-positive enterprises
Guidance on setting up and running small and medium enterprises for restoration and conservation, available in English and Russian.
Practitioner’s toolkit for nature-positive enterprises
Guidance for developing strategic partnerships for nature-positive enterprises
Toolkit designed to support collaboration and partnership building for nature-positive enterprise development.
Enabling nature-positive economies through enterprise partnerships: A Practical Guide
Building partnerships for a nature-positive economy in Kakheti, Georgia
This case study shows how a participatory approach can help build a nature‑positive economy in a fragmented rural landscape.
Building partnerships for a nature-positive economy in Kakheti, Georgia
Building enterprise partnerships for a nature‑positive economy in the Sakar Landscape
This case study outlines a one‑year initiative by Fauna & Flora and BSPB, supported by ELSP, to strengthen collaboration and promote a more nature‑positive economy in the Sakar–Strandzha landscape.
Building enterprise partnerships for a nature‑positive economy in the Sakar Landscape, South‑East Bulgaria
Building nature-positive economies through partnership in Kakheti and Sakar
New guidance helps local leaders plan for human–wildlife coexistence
New partnership with Mayors of Europe to support wildlife comeback
