Announcing the 2025 CFA Incubator Cohort!

Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) is proud to introduce the 10 outstanding projects selected for Round 3 of the CFA Incubator — a program that identifies, supports, and promotes innovative solutions to conservation finance challenges with high-impact potential.

After a rigorous three-stage review process involving expert judges from leading conservation and finance institutions, we are thrilled to welcome ten projects to our 2025 cohort. Five projects will receive grants of $25,000, while all projects will benefit from mentorship, technical assistance, and global exposure through CFA’s network. This third round of the CFA Incubator is being supported by the Nature Transformation Fund run by Milkywire, in collaboration with Klarna.

Selected for Grant Funding and Incubation

• The Salmon Impact Bond. A nature bond model supporting Indigenous-led salmon habitat restoration and community development in Wuikinuxv territory. Team: Eddy Adra, Tamara Isaak, Ross Dixon, Audrey Popa, Coast Funds, Canada; Danielle Shaw, Andra Forney, Wuikinuxv First Nation.

• ABC BirdsPlus Index. Developing a business strategy for the BirdPlus Index, a biodiversity monitoring tool leveraging bird sound recognition and AI to measure biodiversity and ecosystem health. Team: Corey Martignetti, Holly Robertson, and Eliot Miller, American Bird Conservancy, USA.

• Finance for incentive-based marine conservation in small-scale fisheries. Establishing and scaling sustainable finance to conserve marine megafauna (e.g., sharks, rays, turtles) through expanding a unique incentive-based program that  delivers positive outcomes for biodiversity and people in coastal communities. Lead: Hollie Booth, University Of Oxford & Kebersamaan Untuk Lautanuk, Indonesia/UK.

• Global Green Visa®️. Developing a national-level tourism levy linked to an impact bond to finance nature conservation. Team: Bhalin Singh and Cheryl Collins, Prajna Ventures, Rwanda/Luxembourg.

• Finance for Small Scale Fisheries in Africa. Innovative provision of technical assistance and microcredits to support positive outcomes for biodiversity and people in coastal communities in Africa. Team: Camille Richer, BlueMove; Thomas Binet, BlueSeeds, Tunisia & Senegal.

Selected for Incubation 

• Karukinka’s Impact Bond. Finance for peatland and forest protection in Karukinka Natural Park, Patagonia, through an outcome-based bond. Team: Melissa Carmody Lobo and Cristóbal Arredondo, WCS, Chile.

• Caribbean Debt Conversion. Exploring a debt conversion to unlock sustainable conservation finance in Cuba. Team: Fernando Bretos & Jim Tolisano, Cresta Coastal Network; Mark J. Spalding, the Ocean Foundation; Ulises Fernandez, CITMA, Cuba. 

• Finance solutions for sustainable scallop fisheries. Developing metrics and an associated finance system to transform scallop fisheries. Lead. Tom Hooper, Fishtek Marine LTD, UK.

• Mitsiry Biodiversity and Climate Trust Fund. Leveraging blended finance and technical assistance to grow biodiversity-focused small and medium-sized enterprises. Team: Koloina Ramaromandray, Lea Meleard & Emmanuel Cotsoyannis, Mirakap; Madagascar and Eastern & Southern Africa.

• Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) Infrastructure Impact Bond – A scalable approach to fund infrastructure in TFCAs. Lead: Onkemetse Nteta, IUCN, South Africa.

These projects showcase bold thinking where finance meets nature. Through approaches such as bonds, trust funds, credits, AI applications, and blended finance, they’re working to deliver tangible conservation outcomes and long-term sustainability. Together, they reflect the growing momentum in conservation finance, and we look forward to championing their progress and sharing their insights with our broader global network in the year ahead.

The Incubation period will run from May through February 2026, offering tailored support and mentorship to advance these ideas towards implementation. The CFA Incubator will hold a series of webinars presenting these ideas over the course of the incubation and will host presentations at global conferences. 

This year’s open call for proposals attracted 73 applications from 37 countries, reflecting a global interest in conservation finance innovation. Proposals were received from every major region: Africa had the most submissions, followed by Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, the Pacific, and the Middle East. Approximately 25% of proposals were led by women, and over 40% of teams included women in key roles, signaling encouraging trends in inclusion and diversity across the sector. 

Recording of the first CFA Incubator Information Webinar is now available

The Conservation Finance Alliance Incubator seeks to identify, support and promote innovative ideas and solutions to conservation finance challenges that have significant positive conservation impacts. Innovation is essential to identify and develop conservation finance solutions and is especially urgent given the current rates of biodiversity loss. This virtual incubator will identify and support five concurrent projects for incubation for periods of 9 to 12 months. Support will be in the form of grants and mentorship by CFA members.

This info session answers questions posed by members and gives further information on the Incubator program.

Upcoming: Launch of CFA Incubator

The CFA is soon launching the Conservation Finance Incubator - a new facility to provide virtual incubation services for innovation in conservation finance tools and solutions. The Incubator will support two potential tracks: 1) Commercial Ventures that seek to generate a financial return and 2) Finance Concepts that lead to policy, regulatory, or non-profit finance solutions.  All solutions must be new ideas and show clear potential for conservation impact. Concepts can be from any sector (public, private, etc.) and can include ideas generated directly by CFA Members, partner organizations, and independent organizations and entrepreneurs.  The CFA will announce a call for concepts shortly.  The Conservation Finance Incubator is supported by FFEM and MAVA Foundation.

IUCN - Incubator for Nature Conservation (INC) Consultancy/Internship

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is seeking candidates with interest in financing nature conservation for a paid internship with CIMA, a Peruvian NGO (http://www.cima.org.pe/en).  The specialist will work from the CIMA office in Lima, Peru, and help to develop an internal business development, capitalization, and financial management plan, with a specific focus on building long term financial capacity for the management of the Cordillera Azul National Park. The specialist will also visit the CIMA field headquarters near the park, and receive backstopping and technical support provided by a U.S. based specialist working with the IUCN Conservation Finance Incubator (INC). The specialist will work directly with the CIMA team for a period of six months starting in January 2019, with the contract potentially renewable for another six months, with a fixed stipend of U.S.$12,000 for each 6-month period. An ability to read, write, and converse confidently in Spanish will be essential. A detailed Terms of Reference with requirements and formal application procedures for this work can be obtained by sending a concise note to jtolisano@gmail.com. Applications for this position must be delivered to Justine.Brossard@iucn.org, with a closing date of November 23, 2018.

IUCN Incubator for Nature Conservation

The IUCN has worked to set up an incubator for nature conservation to provide technical expertise, guidance, advice and resources to protected areas seeking to improve their business model and achieve financial sustainability. More information can be found on the flyer below as well as on their website. If you have any questions or would be interested in contributing as a partner, please send an email to financeincubator@iucn.org.