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The Eurosite Annual Meeting on Conservation Finance: Advancing European Restoration Efforts

Inga Racinska| 13.11. 2024

The Eurosite Annual Meeting recently took place in Durham, United Kingdom, gathering around 145 conservation professionals, policymakers, and practitioners from across Europe to discuss the latest strategies and initiatives in nature conservation. Eurosite (the leading European Conservation Network dedicated to supporting natural site management) organised the event to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and advance conservation practices. Hosted by North Pennines National Landscape, it was supported by the European Climate Foundation, the LIFE Programme, and the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Topics included ecosystem restoration, climate adaptation, policy, and innovative conservation finance.

Durham, UK. October 2024. Photo Hans von Sonntag

 

The meeting included field visits, allowing participants to explore conservation projects in Durham, gain insights from real-world practices, and connect with fellow conservation experts. This gathering highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation in tackling Europe’s biodiversity and environmental challenges, reinforcing Eurosite’s role as a unifying platform for conservation action. The urgency of financing nature restoration was also a key focus, with workshops dedicated to conservation finance and policy.

Some participants visited Hadrian’s Wall. Photo Hans von Sonntag

 

The Urgency to Finance Nature Restoration
Conservation finance is a growing field focused on funding ecosystem preservation and restoration through innovative financial tools and strategies. With ecosystems deteriorating rapidly, securing adequate funding for conservation efforts is more urgent than ever. In Europe alone, nearly 81% of habitats are in poor condition, and species like butterflies, farmland birds, bees, and countless more are in decline due to habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. The European Union (EU) has set ambitious targets to reverse biodiversity loss and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Achieving these goals will require significant investment in habitat restoration, species protection, and sustainable resource management. Conservation finance must be central to halting biodiversity loss and building climate resilience for real progress.

The Cost of Inaction on Nature Degradation
Failing to invest in nature restoration incurs significant economic and social costs. According to the World Economic Forum, over half of global GDP—around $44 trillion—relies directly or indirectly on nature, with industries like agriculture, construction, and tourism primarily dependent on ecosystem services. In Europe, the cost of biodiversity loss is estimated at €400 billion annually, impacting key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and tourism that depend on healthy ecosystems. For instance, pollinator decline alone could cost Europe approximately €15 billion per year, threatening food security and reducing crop yields, particularly in pollinator-dependent crops. Investing in conservation finance is an ethical duty and a practical economic strategy that strengthens both economies and ecosystems. By prioritising conservation, Europe can protect its economic stability while preserving essential ecosystem services like clean water, fertile soils, and carbon storage.

Diversifying Financial Resources for Conservation Efforts
Europe’s conservation efforts rely heavily on government funding, philanthropy, and grants—sources that fall short of the necessary funding levels. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 estimates that an additional €20 billion per year will be required to meet conservation targets. To close this gap, conservation finance must diversify by attracting private capital and adopting new financial models. Promising avenues include green bonds, carbon credits, and impact investing. For instance, green bonds issued by the EU have already raised billions for sustainable projects, some of which support ecosystem restoration.

Blended Finance Models in Conservation
Blended finance models combine public and private funds to reduce risk. This makes conservation projects more appealing to a broader range of investors and ultimately expands Europe’s conservation funding base. At the Eurosite Annual Meeting, Frank Woesthoff presented NABU’s Climate Fund, which uses blended financing to support peatland restoration by integrating public and private funding.

The event’s host, Paul Leadbitter, showcased the 18-year Great North Bog initiative, which focuses on landscape-scale peatland restoration. Leadbitter believes the future of nature restoration lies in blended finance and emphasises the critical role of public funds in creating project packages and reducing investors’ initial risks.

Peter Howell from the Conservation Finance Network shared insights from the US market, using peatland restoration and carbon credits as examples. He highlighted five fundamental investor needs:

  1. straightforward quantification of carbon benefits,
  2. project scale to reduce individual project risks,
  3. standardised metrics for measurement,
  4. reputation value over cost, particularly with carbon-related projects, and
  5. de-risking, ideally through early-stage public funding.
Frank Woesthoff, NABU. Photo Hans von Sonntag

 

Paul Leadbitter, North Pennines National Landscape. Photo Hans von Sonntag

 

Peter Howell, Conservation Finance Network. Photo Hans von Sonntag

 

The Role of Innovative Financial Mechanisms in Conservation
The expansion of European conservation finance has led to the development of mechanisms that align environmental and economic goals. Green bonds, issued for a record €120 billion across the EU in 2021, fund projects to enhance ecosystem resilience and cut emissions. Similarly, impact investing, which channels private capital into projects with measurable environmental outcomes, is increasing across Europe. These mechanisms allow investors to support conservation while achieving financial returns, creating a mutually beneficial model accelerating Europe’s conservation finance potential.

Europe offers notable examples of business and conservation sectors uniting for a shared vision of a sustainable future. Steph Hepworth from Nature North highlighted the business case for nature recovery in northern England, where a coalition identifies investable opportunities to meet regional conservation needs. Matthew Hay presented the work of Nattergal, a for-profit business dedicated to nature recovery.

Conservation Finance Accelerators for Scaling Up Restoration Efforts
Conservation finance accelerators are specialised programmes that foster the development of financial solutions for environmental preservation and restoration. These accelerators support entrepreneurs, non-profits, and businesses in refining conservation-focused models, securing funding, and connecting with investors. They are crucial in scaling impactful solutions, such as ecosystem restoration, biodiversity credits, and sustainable land-use initiatives, by offering mentorship, technical expertise, and networking opportunities. That’s why Eurosite explores the field with the Eurosite Conservation Finance Accelerator.

Globally, initiatives like the Nature+ Accelerator Fund and Conservation International’s Conservation Finance Division have successfully directed investments into high-impact projects in biodiversity-rich areas. Private conservation accelerators are also gaining momentum in Europe, where they’re instrumental in developing sustainable finance products and innovative conservation technologies. By bridging financial innovation with tangible environmental outcomes, these accelerators are helping the EU reach its biodiversity and climate goals, attracting private capital to support large-scale conservation efforts.

At the event, Max Bodmer presented the work of RePlanet, which leverages carbon and biodiversity credits to fund ecosystem restoration and protection. Yann Grandemange showcased Finance Earth, a social enterprise that uses market-based mechanisms and bespoke financial tools to create projects and investment vehicles that deliver positive outcomes for nature, communities, and investors alike.

A Call to Action for European Conservation Finance
The Annual Meeting sparked a renewed commitment to advancing European conservation finance, fuelling discussions on innovative financial tools to support large-scale ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management across the continent. Stay tuned for more articles on this critical issue!

 

Further reading:

The development of the European Peatland Restoration Accelerator is supported by the European Climate Foundation. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lie with the authors. The European Climate Foundation cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained or expressed therein.
The Eurosite Annual Meeting is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the contributors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.
The project “Building the European Peatlands Initiative: a strong alliance for peatland climate protection in Europe” is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
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