By Jessie Walthers, Conservation Program Manager Groundhog Day. Who doesn’t love this most random of…
Conservation Finance Tips
Are you interested in increasing the ecological output of your property and getting paid to do it? If so, conservation finance can help you do just that. Through conservation finance landowners can be paid for improving soil health, water quality and wildlife diversity while maintaining agricultural and ranching operations on their land.
The basic strategies behind conservation funding are that it is outcome-based and designed for ecological improvements. That is, land owners are paid for producing something of ecological value, such as clean water or carbon sequestration. These products also need to be improvements to the current management strategy.
The funding that landowners receive can come through businesses that need to invest in mitigation opportunities, corporations seeking to improve their social responsibility, high net-worth individuals, family offices, foundations, and public entities.
Methods for taking advantage of conservation finance programs include: mitigation banking, species banking and habitat exchanges, conservation easements, carbon offsets, water quality trading and water funds, and conservation investment in sustainable agriculture and ranching.
To find out how you can implement these strategies, and which strategy is right for your property, click here to read the Western Landowners Alliance blog series. This is a nine-part blog that will be published throughout the year. It will provide landowners with an understanding of key concepts, market players and trends, financial risk, and land management considerations.