Marine Protected Areas are characterized by considerable operation and opportunity costs, undermining their efficacy, particularly within coastal communities especially in the Western Indian Ocean. This is predominantly due to high dependence on donor funding, which is in many cases sporadic, inadequate, and in some cases, does not address the community's priority needs. There is a need to develop, and share knowledge on appropriate and more sustainable financing mechanisms to enhance the efficacy of community-based marine protected areas. Mwambao will showcase and present a marine environmental conservation program (ECO-CREDIT-MKUBA) to encourage coastal communities to actively participate in marine resource management leading to absolute compliance.

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Part 1 of 3: Integrated approaches, using a combination of tailored, sustainable finance solutions, is required to ensure that global sustainability targets can be met responsibly at the local level. Sustainable finance that is geared towards avoiding, reducing and reversing biodiversity loss and land degradation and supports the full potential of social, economic and environmental outcomes are important considerations for conservation efforts. 

The Coalition shares their tried and tested approach to achieving this across 12 African countries. 

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Join us as we "virtually" walk in the shoes of the Masai and then workshop how we can work with those on the edge of conservation areas to develop value chains from the areas they are already working to conserve

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Community-led conservation is far from a shoestring business. As we place significant demands on communities who live adjacent to protected areas, it is crucial to assess the financial implications of our expectations. Let's take a closer look at the business model and financials of a community-protected area in Tanzania, where we will discover how a straightforward business enterprise approach is effectively yielding results on the ground. By exploring this case study, we can gain a better understanding of the practical and financial aspects of community-led conservation.

Unearthodox, together with diverse partners, is facilitating an open-ended and exploratory listening session, with different voices each giving their perspective on systemic shifts needed to transform the power dynamics of mainstream giving in order to enable community-led regeneration of nature. Ultimately, we aspire to see a diverse set of stakeholders from the philanthropic and environmental sectors collectively take forward a vision for new and radical ways of giving and thinking to replace systems of power that impede community-led regeneration of nature. We see this “What if” session as a stepping stone towards this aspiration.

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From 2012 to Infinity!  Once nascent, secretive and inaccessible devices, drones have come to represent a significant opportunity to conserve wildlife ecosystems and create economic benefits for communities both at the local and national level. 

UNEP is leading the development of a global wild biodiversity economy project with partners including the members of the Collaborative partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management. This project has three pillars: Strengthen shared knowledge & understanding, Communities of Practice and Advocacy and Strategic Engagement.
In this session, participants will learn about the project and have the opportunity to share best practice case studies on the wildlife economy, as well as identify where advocacy is most needed and which stakeholders need to be engaged in order to enable the global wild biodiversity economy to contribute to achieving the GBF.

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Empowering rangers to fully engage with the wildlife economy could lead to improved conservation outcomes. By integrating rangers into the economic aspects of conservation, we can create a more sustainable approach to protecting wildlife and their habitats.

Limited opportunities remain for large, connected and intact productive systems in Africa. African Parks have been managing Chinko in eastern Central African Republic for just under 10 years and have recently signed management partnerships for two large national parks in South Sudan. Join us as we unpack the complexities of working in such remote and conflict-ridden landscapes, but also the astounding opportunities that these areas hold. And importantly, how the insights gleaned from Chinko are paving the way in South Sudan. 

In a constantly changing world, how can businesses gain confidence that their activities are truly acting as a positive force for nature? By unlocking the power of Adaptive Management, business leaders can generate the necessary evidence to build support for their operations and accelerate the wildlife economy. 

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Part 2 of 3: The Coalition's model to Find, Design, and Mobilise Sustainable Finance for naturescapes is executed through its unique Finance Solution Approach. The Coalition has worked in 12 countries in Africa developing tailor-made finance solutions for biodiversity and people, together with a vast Finance for Nature Ecosystem.

Join the Coalition as they share for the first time their finance solution inventory, and work with you through key experts to apply the Finance Solution Approach to your naturescape, covering five unique finance solutions.

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We believe that our presentation will provide insights into the challenges and opportunities that arise when building and growing a conservation organization, and highlight the importance of long-term conservation efforts like the 20-year anniversary of Majete National Park. 

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Join an interactive workshop with Cornell University researchers where we will explore global best practices for managing the inherent tension between the desire to increase rates of tourism and the need to effectively conserve the natural and cultural resources on which tourism depends.  The Cornell team will use recent research in Rwanda to spark conversation around key issues, and participants will have the opportunity to consider their own role in promoting sustainable tourism destination management.

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Join us for an interactive think tank session exploring the potential for community-private partnerships to unlock the full potential of community-led conservation areas in Africa. Using case studies from Namibia and Mozambique, we will demonstrate how working with "communities as clients" can infuse skills, funding, and experience without compromising a community's agency, authority, or decision-making power, and invite participants to imagine a pathway to "CBNRM 2.0" where empowered communities choose to drive the expansion of conservation areas across Africa.

The single biggest problem in conservation: the toxic relationship we humans have with our environment. This session uncovers the potential of immersive technologies to reconnect a global population to nature, and to change our culture around it so we may better protect it.

The side event will spotlight the practicalities of unlocking wildlife economies at the landscape level through the VNP Conservation and Development Masterplan as an emerging model for countries seeking to unlock the value of their biodiversity and position biodiversity economies as a growth sector at the national and landscape level.

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Join us as we explore practical examples of structured products in conservation finance. We look at ways bonds, listed equity and nature based project finance can be used to fund the business of conservation, review the challenges and successes Peace Parks has had in each and try to find replicable and scalable solutions.

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This fireside chat will highlight the impact of the Campus on the local communities during and after construction. The hope is to serve as a model for future infrastructure projects around maximizing social, economic, and environmental impact.
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Part 3 of 3: An effective Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) is a robust tool to support the sustainable financing of conservation. CTFs that meet international practice standards should: “have a diversity of thought and a diversity of approaches and tools to make the best use of their constrained technical, human, and financial resources. At the same time, they are subject to diligent scrutiny by donors - public and private, bilateral and multilateral - and also by the private sector companies they partner with”.

Join experts in unpacking the building blocks of effective CTFs and on how existing CTFs can be enhanced to become effective sustainable finance mechanisms. 

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Strengthening partnerships between INGOs and African CSOs is essential to improving resource distribution for greater conservation impact. Maliasili wants to launch key findings and recommendations of a new study that explores the challenges and opportunities of partnerships between INGOs and CSOs, and use important stakeholders at BCC to have a dialogue around this topic.
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This session aims to develop ideas how to effectively replicate LT&C Examples across Africa to create more long-term ecotourism projects, initiatives and partnerships that effectively manage, fund and educate around new and existing (private) protected areas.
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With the exponential growth of the voluntary carbon market anticipated across Africa in the coming years, it is critical that scaling takes place with a community-led approach; ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place in addition to equitable benefit sharing for participating communities. Join the project developer of two award winning projects, Carbon Tanzania, for a discussion on how by participating in the voluntary carbon market local communities can access international carbon finance to support locally led conservation initiatives.
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Join us for a playful session where we'll learn more about how video games can be a powerful tool for conservation storytelling and most importantly, have some fun designing your own game based on the story you want to tell. Expect to get your creative juices flowing but also walk away with some practical knowledge on best practices for implementing games into your storytelling agenda.

This session is intended for wildlife storytellers, researchers and scientists looking for new ways to tell the stories of their work, and investors and funders looking to finance innovative approaches to public engagement and storytelling.

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The story of a rising forgotten park defended effectively against any and all external threats, powered by a Public Private Partnership and by an innovative business model.
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