Fauna & Flora, the Endangered Landscapes Programme and the Cambridge Judge Business School have collaborated to develop the Practitioner's Toolkit for Nature-Positive Enterprises. Conservation practitioners do not generally have the technical expertise in business management to develop and maintain a successful enterprise. The purpose of this toolkit is to bridge this knowledge gap and enable practitioners to develop and effectively manage enterprises that support nature.
A nature-positive enterprise, as defined by the Endangered Landscapes Programme partners, is a financially viable business entity that sustainably derives value from natural and social capital in a landscape or seascape to attract and generate sustainable finance and positively contribute to nature conservation and restoration by ensuring local actors are equitably benefitted. Promoting nature-positive enterprises within conservation organizations can play an important role in developing additional income streams to finance conservation. Currently, the majority of conservation organizations receive funding mainly in the form of donations and grants, leaving them vulnerable to financing gaps when such forms of funding are not readily available. Diversifying income streams through nature-positive enterprises can allow conservation organizations to become more financially resilient and can fund long-term conservation programmes.
The toolkit was developed to guide practitioners through the various stages of developing a nature-positive enterprise. It begins by guiding the practitioner on how to assess business opportunities within their landscape or seascape, followed by a second chapter focused on the design of a business model. The third chapter covers the various intricacies of launching a business. In the fourth and final chapter the toolkit addresses long-term management and governance strategies that relate to nature-positive enterprises. Each chapter includes various case studies of successful nature-positive enterprises from 10 partner organizations. These case studies include examples of a range of enterprises commercializing products such as dairy, honey and fish. The toolkit has been translated into Russian, and has two add-ons that focus on where to source funding and how to develop strategic and commercial partnerships within landscapes.
The Practitioner's Toolkit for Nature-Positive Enterprises was launched on 14 June 2023 and is available at endangeredlandscapes.org/resources.
Open access
