About us

Since 1987, we’ve been a conservation laboratory. Rather than relying on old ideas, we’ve given ourselves the freedom to experiment and innovate, scramble and struggle, and take risks on big ideas when others will not. We lay new foundations in science, finance, policy, and fieldwork so others can build on them around the world.

We specialize in the science of solutions.

Our research is rigorous and field-relevant, focused on identifying the highest-priority areas for conservation, developing new approaches to ecosystem restoration, maximizing the carbon-capture potential of our projects, and using technology to measure the intangible and monitor the inaccessible. In short, science helps us deliver better, longer-lasting and more cost-effective results around the world.

We are a trusted partner to thousands of organizations worldwide — from large foundations and multi-lateral institutions to corporations, governments and local communities.

Over decades, we have built strong relationships with Indigenous groups in dozens of countries, helping them sustain and scale their conservation efforts, build resilient economies, and strengthen their land tenure.

For centuries, human development has come at nature’s expense — but what if nature and people could thrive together? What if communities could improve their quality of life, increase more income, and adapt to climate change without damaging our planet’s life-support systems?

Our approach to conservation is rooted in economics. We work with local communities and businesses to create new jobs and other economic opportunities that offer a real alternatives to deforestation and unsustainable agriculture.

Since 1987, Conservation International has worked at the forefront of nature finance, pioneering debt-for-nature swaps, protected-area REDD+, forest bonds, blue carbon credits — and most recently, several new models for sustainable commodity production.

Our Nature Finance Division (NFD) employs more than 60 experts across five continents and has mobilized billions of dollars for conservation. The team imagines new ways to fund the long-term protection of nature; incubate green business models that can generate reliable return; and raise the money required to scale those ideas.