New finance tools bring $10 billion into African conservation

June 01, 2026

Dear subscriber,

Conservation in Africa is no longer being treated as just philanthropy or environmental protection, it is increasingly being structured like infrastructure finance. 

Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor

New finance tools bring $10 billion into African conservation

The African conservation sector has attracted over $10 billion in funding over the past 18 months through biodiversity bonds, nature-based carbon credit agreements, debt-for-nature swaps and more. This is based on a detailed database of African conservation funding kept by Conservation Rising and updated weekly. 

  • The recent listing of Africa’s first $132 million conservation bond on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the clearest sign yet that conservation finance is moving into mainstream capital markets. 

  • The last 18 months also recorded Africa’s first $180 million project finance for permanence initiative in Gabon and the revival of debt-for-nature swaps funding model with a $500 million pipeline, among other funding deals.

  • Our take: While the commercialisation of nature is unlocking conservation finance at a scale traditional donor models rarely achieved, it is also raising difficult questions about sustainability and equity…Read more (2 min)

Controlled genetic management is helping conservationists rebuild endangered species whose wild populations have become too small and genetically fragile to recover naturally. In April, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy imported four male mountain bongos to support controlled breeding and rebuild wild populations.

  • In this interview, Dr. Robert Aruho, the head of the conservancy, explains how controlled breeding techniques are being used to diversify the genetic pool and prepare captive-born bongos for life in the wild. He also discusses the science behind the rewilding process and how this method can be scaled for other species. 

  • “To recover a population of such an important animal, you need a much stronger genetic base. With the four males, which are not related to our population, we can create four herds and four breeding opportunities going on at the same time,”  says Dr. Aruho, “The ultimate success is to see the mountain bongo population sustaining itself and extinction no longer possible in Kenya.”  

  • Read the full Q&A…Read more (2 min)

African Parks has outpaced peers with a 9% increase in senior staff growth, a total of 50 new hires over the past year. Our review, using LinkedIn data, indicates that African Parks has achieved the highest growth rate in both general hirers and business development staff at 9% and 8%. African Parks also appears to be localising staffing increasingly. 

  • Drawing on an annual budget of $166 million, AP is opening an academy in Rwanda to train African conservation professionals, with the first students expected to enroll next year. 

  • Wildlife Conservation Society, Peace Parks Foundation and The Nature Conservancy also recorded high general staff growth among all the top 10 conservation organisations in Africa with 35, 18 and 18 new hires respectively.  

  • Our take: Conservation organisations are increasingly building revenue-focused teams and investing in African-led talent pipelines to strengthen long-term financial sustainability…Read more (2 min)

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Kenya turns to AI-enabled surveillance technology for wildlife conservation

 

Events

🗓️ Join the Conference on Climate Change Effects on Species Diversity (June 5)

🗓️ Attend the Annual Congress on Soil and Water Conservation in Kenya (June 9)

🗓️ Be at the 11th Our Ocean Conference  in Kenya (June 16)

Jobs

👷 Be the Site Manager at Wildlife Conservation Society (DRC)

👷 Become the Conservation Pilot at Okapi Wildlife Reserve (DRC)

👷 Join the UN as a Technical Consultant on Ecosystem Protection (Kenya)

Various 

🌳 South Africa pushes for people-centred biodiversity action ahead of COP17 

🌳 Rwanda to benefit from Lake Victoria Basin conservation drive 

🌳 Namibia secures $63 million for conservation 

 

Seen on LinkedIn 

Sarah Bruglar, a conservation expert, says, “Biodiversity outcomes are heavily shaped by how private land is managed, making conservation covenants and easements increasingly important tools for protecting ecosystems and advancing global biodiversity goals.”________________