Countries Can Deliver Lasting Benefits for Nature and People with Nature Bonds Projects

1. Lasting results come from ensuring the design and implementation of Nature Bonds projects are informed by the latest in conservation knowledge and best practices.

One of the things that sets Nature Bonds projects apart is the aim to pair an impactful debt conversion, which unlocks funding, and a set of forward-thinking conservation commitments. Their implementation is backed by the technical support of TNC, who stays on as a conservation partner to governments after each project is launched, bringing decades of conservation experience and current science and best practices to bear in support of effective, lasting results for conservation.

For example, with Seychelles, which was the first nation in the world to launch a Nature Bonds project, TNC helped support the country’s ambitious goals to protect ocean health for the benefit of the people of Seychelles. Marine spatial planning was a young field at the time. TNC helped the Government of Seychelles use the best available science and evolving best practices to map ocean ecosystems and work with marine sectors and civil society to create Seychelles' first national marine spatial plan to guide conservation, climate adaptation and the blue economy for its whole ocean.

2. In-country leadership and stakeholder engagement ensure Nature Bonds projects reflect local realities—from environmental to economic—and values.

Nature Bonds projects ultimately belong to each project country and its people. In-country leadership by government and dynamic local teams ensures project design and outcomes are stronger and more effective for the long-term and ensures they reflect local environmental, economic and cultural realities and values.

With each Nature Bonds project, an independent conservation trust fund (CTF) is established to manage and disburse the funds generated from the debt conversion, ensuring strong governance and the alignment of conservation financing with long-term ecological and socioeconomic goals. But they do much more than this.

Alongside government leadership, conservation trust funds are critical facilitators of Nature Bonds projects and key supporters of community engagement, education and innovation. In Belize, the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future exemplifies how CTFs can deliver real impact. Since its establishment, the fund has provided nearly $12 million in funding for things like the country’s marine spatial planning process, the monitoring and enforcement of conserved areas, and grants to support local projects ranging from seaweed aquaculture to small-scale fisheries.

3. Innovation and continuous learning are core to the origin and continued development of Nature Bonds projects.

This includes conservation innovations like the deployment of aerial and underwater drones to monitor mangrove and reef health and compliance with fishing regulations in Belize, the development of regulations requiring the electronic monitoring of industrial fishing vessels in Gabon, and planning for climate-smart marine protected areas in the Bahamas.

It includes designing monitoring processes to measure effectiveness. It means crafting conservation commitments based on careful in-country consultation. And it means supporting better ways to center the voices of Indigenous Peoples and sustain traditional stewardship.

In Ecuador, a Nature Bonds project supports the Biocorredor Amazónico Program, an initiative led by the Ecuadorian government and co‑designed with Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities. The effort links public policy, Indigenous territorial governance, and long‑term conservation commitments at a landscape scale.

We are using learnings to improve the design and implementation of Nature Bonds projects, and we are working to share this knowledge with our partners in the Debt for Nature Coalition, which is committed to accelerating the scaling of conservation outcomes through debt conversions.

The Path Forward

The world is facing staggering declines in biodiversity around the world and across biomes—from ocean to land and fresh water. We are also grappling with the impacts from climate change, which is threatening species and ecosystems as well as human communities and infrastructure. In the midst of this, many countries face high levels of debt, which limits their ability to protect the ecosystems their people rely on for well-being and for resilience in the face of climate change.

Our vision for the future of TNC’s Nature Bonds Program is rooted in impact. We’re committed to ensuring that both new and existing projects are not only well-designed, but well-executed—delivering measurable benefits for nature, people and climate. Whether it’s scaling up protections or protected areas management, improving natural resource governance, supporting more resilient communities, boosting food security, enabling blue and green economies, or advancing nature-based solutions to climate change, I believe our success will be defined by the outcomes we help our government and community partners achieve.

Nature Bonds projects are more than a proven solution for conservation—they are a promise. A promise that conservation and nature finance can be transformative when paired with rigorous implementation, local leadership and long-term vision. That’s the work I’m proud to be part of. And that’s the work we’re committed to advancing.