Q&A: Inside Natural State’s model for Africa’s nature economy

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Africa must think outside the box and explore every financial mechanism available to successfully achieve biodiversity conservation. In an interview with Conservation Rising, Beatrice Karanja, Senior Advisor to the Executive at Natural State, explains how the organisation is building measurable, investable pathways for Africa’s nature restoration.

• Only $143 billion is invested annually in biodiversity conservation, far from the estimated $824 billion needed for the sector. This highlights the need for the adoption of innovative approaches to raise the necessary funds.

• “At Natural State, we know that protecting our planet is a financial challenge on a global scale. The cost of financing the nature-based solutions our world urgently needs currently stands at $3.7 to $4 trillion and rising. That number reminds us how much is at stake and how fast we need to act.” Says Mrs Karanja. 

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What is Natural State’s approach to conservation and finance?

At Natural State, we know that protecting our planet is not just an environmental goal, it is a financial challenge on a global scale. The cost of financing the nature-based solutions our world urgently needs currently stands at $3.7 to $4 trillion and rising. That number can feel overwhelming, but it also reminds us how much is at stake and how fast we need to act.

Real change requires an integrated approach that balances adaptation and mitigation. And that approach, ambitious as it is, needs funding. So, we asked ourselves a simple but powerful question: Where will the money come from to drive the impact we need to see?

Most of the world’s capital sits in the private sector, and that is where we focus our efforts: helping investors, corporations, and governments make smarter, data-driven decisions for nature. Because what is missing is not the will to act, it is the data to guide action. At every major climate summit and global meeting, the same themes keep coming up: data and finance. Without them, good intentions cannot become real-world results.

That is why, at Natural State, we make nature measurable. We help people see nature’s value by treating it as an asset class because you can only price what you truly value. We measure biodiversity above and below ground, track carbon sequestration, and connect these natural systems to human well-being.

From carbon credits to single-species credits, from water financing off Mount Kenya to restoration finance in Namibia, we are building bridges between nature and capital. Each project tells a story, one where nature and people thrive together, supported by the right data, the right financing, and the right vision for our shared future.

How does technology support conservation efforts?

We use a wide range of technologies to measure biodiversity, both above and below ground.

Above ground, we deploy camera traps and drones, along with specialized aerial cameras mounted on planes that capture images of forest canopies and vegetation structure. We also use bird acoustics to monitor avian biodiversity, listening to the soundscapes of nature to understand which species are thriving and which are under threat.

Below ground, we study the chemistry and biology of soils, measuring factors like pH and tracking how soils capture or release carbon. 

Together, these insights help us understand how different landscapes are functioning as living systems. Because you cannot look at carbon in isolation, you need to understand how biodiversity and carbon interact, and how that relationship connects to human well-being.

All this data allows us to properly value nature and build the evidence base for conservation finance. Without robust measurement and monitoring, neither the private sector nor governments can make informed decisions about where and how to invest in protecting the natural world.

How are communities involved in conservation?

Communities have always understood the importance of conservation, it is nothing new. It is deeply woven into our cultures, histories, languages, and traditions. As John Kamanga of MMWCA once said in a Mongabay piece, “Africans have always done science, we just didn’t call it science.”

At Natural State, communities remain at the core of our work, and this is clear in two ways. We are currently building a global centre of excellence for restoration, the African Centre for Nature Restoration & Resilience (ACNRR). We believe that, within three years, East Africa

will produce the most capable leaders in the sector. Communities are center in our Nature Finance work where we are ensuring that human and social well-being are deeply integrated within our impact strategies. We ask important questions: How do communities want benefits to be shared? What are the gender dynamics? What are the hierarchies of need? Central to this process is free, prior, and informed consent, which is essential as community conservation expands across Kenya and beyond.

We also recognize that conservation must go hand in hand with practical alternatives, because it is not about communities not knowing conservation, it is about ensuring they have the options, resources, and partnerships to act on the knowledge they have always had.

How will your new initiative, the Africa Centre for Nature Restoration and Resilience, improve collaboration with youth and local communities?

We realised that if we don’t intentionally invest in building the next cohort of restoration leaders, we won’t go far. Africa’s youth are innovative, vibrant, and hungry to make change. So we are setting up the Africa Centre for Nature Restoration and Resilience in Northern Kenya.

This centre combines indigenous knowledge with modern science. It’s a hybrid space where we bring together restoration practice, indigenous wisdom, scientific monitoring, and nature finance. It’s meant to be a playbook for future leaders teaching how to set up impact monitoring, how to design finance mechanisms, and how to co-create solutions with communities.

We want Africa’s youth to own conservation, to lead with agency, and to shape global restoration efforts. This is about creating African solutions that also speak to global peers.

Why is professionalising conservation important?

Conservation should not be treated as a ‘do-gooder’ sector where people accept lower salaries just for passion. It should be professionalised to the same level as finance, education, or health. 

Whether you are a finance manager in conservation or in a bank, your skills and impact should be valued equally.

Nature is now at the forefront of global discussions, and conservation jobs should reflect that reality. For young people entering the sector, it’s important to see conservation as a career that offers professional parity with other fields.

This shift will make the sector more attractive, sustainable, and impactful.