4Nature Podcast

 
 
 
 

It’s time to rethink our incentive systems so they work for Nature and People.

Join David Meyers and Kim Bonine as they talk with some of the world’s most innovative thinkers and driven actors to discuss how to transform economic incentive systems so they work for nature and people.

We host this podcast in collaboration with the Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF).

 

4Nature Co-Hosts

David Meyers, Executive Director, Conservation Finance Alliance

David is an environmental finance expert and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the field. He is currently the Executive Director of the Conservation Finance Alliance. From 2012-2018, David was a Senior Technical Advisor for the BIOFIN/UNDP project. David spent well over a decade in Madagascar and helped the country plan and execute a doubling of the area under conservation. He holds a PhD in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

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Kim Bonine, Head of Capacity Development, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University

Kim leads the strategic growth of Natural Capital Project's global training and capacity building programs. She has over 25 years of experience developing international training programs on economics and finance for conservation, and is dedicated to turning information into understanding by making learning interesting, relevant and accessible to diverse audiences. She has led the design and implementation of courses and analysis projects in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and North and South America on themes such as environmental policy, infrastructure development, fisheries management, conservation finance, and sustainable livelihoods. Prior to joining the Natural Capital Project, Kim was the Training Director at Conservation Strategy Fund, leading their Numbers for Nature Training Institute and global training programs with activities in more than 40 countries and five continents.

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Latest podcast

From Free to Priceless: The True Cost of Nature

 

JUNE, 2025

Every breath you take is free - but in an economic system that only values what's priced, could this be nature's greatest vulnerability? In this rare podcast-meets-podcast exchange, David Meyers and Juan Pablo Romero (host of Poder Ambiental) flip between interviewer and interviewee to dissect this dangerous paradox. Their conversation transcends typical environmental gloom, revealing how innovative financial mechanisms are already transforming our relationship with nature - from biodiversity credits empowering Global South economies to debt-for-nature swaps creating billion-dollar conservation opportunities. As the two environmental specialists analyze not just what we say about nature but how we say it, they unveil why reframing our relationship with the natural world might be less about saving the planet and more about saving ourselves.

 

Previous at 4Nature Podcast


The Gold Standard: Valuing Intact Nature While We Fix What's Broken

MAY, 2025

What if we've built conservation markets backward? Mike Korchinsky, founder of Wildlife Works, reveals how we've created elaborate systems to pay for reducing destruction while assigning zero value to what remains intact. After pioneering REDD+ carbon credits that moved millions to indigenous communities, Korchinsky is now challenging both corporate leaders and environmental activists with a provocative framework: "The market is the worst form of conservation finance - except for all the others." His work with Amazonian indigenous peoples has produced a revolutionary financial instrument that values functioning ecosystems rather than just measuring avoided harm. Join this philosophical journey through the carbon market's turbulent history to discover why the future of biodiversity finance might depend on abandoning guilt-based "footprint" approaches for something radically simpler: recognizing and rewarding what communities have protected for millennia.


Rewilding Our Money: How Bioregions Are Growing Regenerative Economies from the Ground Up

april, 2025

What if money flowed through landscapes like water - nurturing life and creating abundance - instead of extracting value and leaving depletion behind? Samantha Power, regenerative economist and co-founder of the BioFi Project, reveals how "bioregional financing facilities" keep capital rooted in places like nutrients in healthy soil. From community-governed trusts to venture studios supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs, her four innovative models challenge the assumption that finance must operate in opposition to nature. Already transforming economic relationships from California to the Amazon, these approaches build local capital aligned with living systems rather than extracting wealth from them. Join this paradigm-shifting conversation to discover not just how to increase investment in nature, but how to fundamentally reimagine our relationship with capital to serve life itself.


Revolutionizing Conservation Finance in Mozambique

 
 

AUGUST, 2024

Discussed in this Episode:

  • BIOFUND's unique membership model for engaging conservation stakeholders.

  • Strategies for efficiently disbursing funds to support protected areas.

  • The critical role of conservation trust funds during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Approaches for aligning community development with conservation goals.

  • Innovative finance mechanisms being explored, such as biodiversity offsets and a conservation credit card.

  • Vision for BIOFUND's future growth and impact in Mozambique and beyond.