Traditionally, funding for conservation in Canada and elsewhere has come from governments, government-aligned institutions, and other limited sources of capital such as philanthropic foundations. Yet recent research from the Paulson Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and Cornell Atkinson Centre for Sustainability estimates that a global conservation funding gap exists that ranges from $598-824 billion US per year.

Financing Conservation: How conservation financing could be used to protect Canada’s ecosystems, a new Metcalf-funded report from Rally Assets and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, explores what level of funding is required to achieve Canada’s ambitious conservation targets. The co-authors estimate that in Canada alone the additional funding needed for conservation is $15-20 billion US a year.

The report outlines how a wide array of innovative financial approaches to conservation could be used to attract additional sources of capital, including from private investors, mainstream investment firms, and corporations. There are both opportunities and challenges when it comes to growing conservation finance in Canada and globally. This report is a welcome contribution to the growing body of research into conservation finance, and provides timely analysis of what prospects there are for increasing and diversifying conservation funding in Canada.