Background – Making Landscape Conservation a Viable Activity

To drive conservation in the tropics, the protection of carbon sinks and biodiversity needs to become a financially viable activity. Conservation requires sustained operational funding.

When Nick Brown visited El Silencio Reserve in Magdalena Medio, Colombia in 2023, he was impressed by the conservation work undertaken by Fundación Biodiversa. Around 3,400 hectares of land in a threatened but highly biodiverse area are being restored and cared for, with significant amounts of carbon are being sequestered.

In conversation with the foundation’s director,  Fernando Arbaláez, Nick learned that external funding agencies are often hesitant to fund the operational costs of nature reserves. They prefer to fund individual projects that have very concrete objectives, like a conservation program for a particular endangered species.

For many not-for-profit nature reserves, securing operational funding is difficult because funders want to see clear and verifiable results from their investment. To demonstrate impact and long-term commitment, reserves need reliable systems for recording, verifying, and presenting conservation outcomes. Developing these systems is often beyond the capacity of small and even medium-sized organisations.

How the Initiative works

The Landscape Care Initiative is being delivered in stages. Core reporting and organisational support are currently underway, with additional tools and donor-facing mechanisms being introduced progressively.

At present, the Initiative is working with partner reserves to strengthen organisational documentation, conservation reporting, and impact evidence through a combination of local records and remote data.

Stage 2.
Conservation reporting and publicity:

This stage builds on the foundations established in Stage 1 through the development of web-based presentations that allow reserves to share their work with potential donors and supporters, with options for donors to contribute directly to the reserves.

Reserves are able to use Stage 1 reports to support their own fundraising before progressing to Stage 2.

As the Initiative progresses, Green Levers is developing mechanisms that allow donors to be linked to specific areas of conservation work and to receive detailed updates on biodiversity and carbon outcomes over time.