AB Entheos builds resilience for Africa’s prosperity. Conserve is working with the incredible team from AB Entheos to deliver innovative insurance solutions to address the costs of human wildlife conflict.
AB Entheos builds resilience for Africa’s prosperity. Conserve is working with the incredible team from AB Entheos to deliver innovative insurance solutions to address the costs of human wildlife conflict.
Akashinga delivers resilient nature conservation programmes of global significance through community-driven partnerships. Re:wild works with 500+ partners…
most of whom are Indigenous peoples and local communities, in more than 80 countries to restore and protect the wild. Together, Conserve with Akashinga and Re:wild are looking to establish a community of practise to promote and advance community-led solutions to secure Africa’s large, connected conservation landscapes.
Cultivo is a company that builds portfolios of natural capital projects that generate financial, natural and social returns. In an emerging sector fraught with unscrupulous actors…
looking to profiteer at the expense of rural communities, Conserve is delighted to have found a value-aligned organisation through which to develop nature-based solutions.
The Trust partners with other environmental and health organisations to improve sexual and reproductive health services, support reproductive choice, provide livelihoods…
and conserve biodiversity.Conserve’s partnership with the Trust aims to improve human and environmental health across our project sites. We do this by developing strategic partnerships with communities, health service providers and government departments to integrate reproductive health, livelihood development, and environmental action to achieve better health, diversified livelihoods, reduced poverty, and protected habitats.
Mulago finds and funds high-performance organisations that tackle the basic needs of the very poor. Conserve is honoured to have been selected by Mulago as a Portfolio Partner.
The Sustainable Finance Coalition finds, designs and mobilises tailor-made finance solutions for nature. Conserve is proud to have been selected as a…
strategic partner by the Coalition as we seek to incubate and develop new and innovative nature positive finance solutions.
ValueNature is currently developing four nature investment and biodiversity credit initiatives, covering more than 500,000 hectares in four countries within the Global South…
with plans to launch them by 2024. Conserve is proud that the Tondwa landscape has been selected as one of these initiatives.
Attended 103 community meetings in 2023
To inform community development in Zambia
Created for local community members
Of birds and mammals in our landscapes
Have full time roles with Conserve and its entities
Active, formal, strategic collaborations
Income since 2021
Humanity is confronting a global emergency caused by biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and climate change. We urgently need nature-based solutions that protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or altered ecosystems to prevent an increasingly severe future. Conserve has been set up to address this need, focusing on landscapes that have previously been overlooked but paradoxically hold great promise in tackling the issues humanity faces.
Our project portfolio is actively working to conserve more than 9.1 million acres across seven countries. Biodiversity surveys uncover the delicate balance of these ecosystems and help create a world where nature conserves us.
We conserve wildlife corridors, increase access to water for people and wildlife, promote sustainable agriculture, and leverage AI and technology to mitigate human-wildlife conflict all so nature can provide a future for us all.
We work with local governments and communities to integrate indigenous knowledge with technology, and data-driven solutions. From ecotourism to sustainable enterprise, our partnerships demonstrate nature as the solution.
Since Conserve was founded in 2020, more than $9M in resources has been directed to community conservation efforts. We work with more than 20 local community conservancies, associations, and governments in seven countries.
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Tondwa falls under the jurisdiction of the Nsama Chiefdom and Nsama Community Resources Board (Nsama CRB) and is managed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). Chief Nsama is the paramount chief of the region. Baobab Safaris Limited holds the lease for Tondwa until 2029.
On the journey to reaching our shared goal of a full transition to local leadership:
We will focus on two main themes:
The rampant destruction of nature beyond national parks is seldom the fault of the communities who depend on it to survive. Yes, bad local practices around livestock farming, slash-and-burn agriculture and deforestation for fuelwood are contributing to landscape degradation, but these can generally be resolved with the right technical support, resources and alternatives. The greatest threat by far is from industrial-scale habitat transformation and commercial-scale resource extraction. These degrade, destroy and fragment the natural resource base on which rural communities depend, mostly with nominal local beneficiation (most of the value is exported to distant markets).
To address this, Indigenous communities need greater agency over the resources on which they depend, they need greater equity in the value emanating from well-managed natural ecosystems and their lives need to improve because of conservation measures, not despite them. Even with the best intentions, many communities lack the resources and capacity to address the
landscape challenges they face. Therefore, in a project’s early years, we take on direct responsibility
for effective landscape management and we deploy skilled conservation management teams to project sites to address urgent threats. This is the second key, unique ingredient of our approach. We deliver this service through our in-country legal entities, but we leverage the considerable experience of the core Conserve team to build and support strong and inclusive local conservation management organisations that, over time, will increasingly reflect the demographics of the project landscape.
By enhancing farming practices, improving soil health, creating jobs, and implementing technology solutions such as solar-powered water tanks, we help foster prosperous livelihoods for communities.
Improving livelihoods is about meeting people where they are and listening to truly understand. Off a foundation of trust, it is then about unlocking value with communities as equity shareholders, about addressing the direct and indirect costs of living with wildlife, and about involving communities at all levels in decision making on matters impacting their lives. Critically, livelihood benefits need to be distributed fairly and equitably at a household level. Ultimately, improving livelihoods is about improving choices and available opportunities through enhanced agency and equity, and about reconciling the legitimate short-term needs of people with the long-term persistence of nature.
The single most unique feature of most conservation landscapes beyond national parks is that they are almost always inhabited by rural communities, often amongst the most marginalised of society with little to no access to government services and amenities. Dependence on natural resources for survival is often absolute and livelihoods are enormously vulnerable to external threats and pressures. Effective management of the landscapes where these frontline communities live is therefore as much a human imperative as it is an ecological one. Continued degradation of these landscapes will trap people in unescapable poverty and render them totally vulnerable to climate and other external shocks. The conservation narrative therefore needs to shift from one focused on biodiversity only to one that also recognises, upholds and promotes resilient and healthy frontline communities. This is core to Conserve’s mission.
Conserve’s long-term approach represents a departure from short-term programmatic intervention and provides a platform to deliver enduring solutions. In almost all cases, the two most urgent challenges are human-wildlife conflict and habitat degradation. Conflict with wildlife delivers a negative conservation return and very often people living with wildlife bear a big cost. Any hope of delivering a solution that reconciles the needs of both people and nature depends fundamentally on a solution to address this cost. Only then can the promise of positive dividends from a nature-based economy be pursued. Habitat degradation is complex with multiple drivers. The biggest threats are external but localised practises that prioritise short-term gain over long-term sustainability of natural resources are also problematic. In almost all cases, communities are aware of the problems and the associated drivers but lack the resources and/or structures to intervene effectively. Our project teams are focused on working with our community partners to co-create solutions that are practical, affordable and achievable. When communities have a stake in conservation efforts, active participation increases.
We drive sustainable impact by developing nature-based solutions, fostering nature-positive businesses, mobilising capital through blended and innovative financing models, and promoting community-owned tourism opportunities.
Revenue is required to fund project management, to position conservation as a competitive land use and to unlock benefits for communities. Initially, Conserve secures project financing through philanthropy, but our goal is for each project to optimise its latent economic potential. To this end, we prioritise the sale of carbon credits and the development of tourism where appropriate.
Conserve’s funding strategy recognises the importance of donor funds in the formative years of a project, whilst proactively identifying options to generate revenue in collaboration with communities and government partners. Our long-term goal is to unlock latent economic potential and transform this into shared financial value that simultaneously funds effective landscape management whilst lifting people out of poverty.
At the outset of a new project, we investigate options to build a diversified economy compatible with long-term conservation goals. Generally, these include tourism opportunities, conversion of community projects to community businesses, an array of nature-positive enterprise developments, and natural capital opportunities such as carbon and biodiversity credits. On identifying these opportunities, we undertake feasibility studies and, if viable, progress to business plans. We then aim to raise philanthropic or investment capital to seed each opportunity. Incubation through the start-up stages is crucial and from the start, we identify market and offtake solutions.
At Conserve, trust isn’t just a value—it’s the foundation of everything we do. It’s what gives us the mandate to operate, and we work hard to earn and sustain it every day. Our tenure on the ground takes different forms: service-level agreements with community conservancies, long-term leases for previously hunted areas, and co-management partnerships with governments and local communities.
But the paperwork alone doesn’t carry us forward. What really endures is the spirit of these agreements—the relationships we build, the promises we keep, and the mutual respect we nurture over time. That’s why we seek long-term commitments—often over a decade—because creating lasting capacity, strong governance, and financial resilience takes time, care, and shared intention.
We only work where we are welcomed. And the growing number of communities inviting us in speaks volumes. It tells us that something powerful is happening: a groundswell of support for a new conservation model—one that is locally led, deeply rooted, and full of promise. These partnerships fuel our optimism and remind us that the future of conservation is collaborative.
For each project, we establish an in-country legal entity for project delivery, oversight, and administration. Conserve provides the necessary financial and technical support. Building strong local institutions is a key, unique ingredient of our approach. In all cases, we position ourselves as a service provider to our client – the community – and our endgame is to eventually transition all roles and responsibilities to the community.
Building strong local institutions is the central pillar of Conserve’s model and for project delivery. Conserve’s decentralised model has been set up very intentionally to enable authority to be transitioned to Indigenous communities where tenure has been secured through a co-management partnership or lease, and to in-country citizens of high repute where tenure has been secured through a service level agreement with an existing community-based organisation. By keeping our entities keenly targeting their respective project landscapes, we can effectively deliver conservation management services to community conservancies under service level agreements. These create a healthy power dynamic, whereby we are serving communities as our clients. In the case of concession areas, we can use these local institutions to involve and vest increasing ownership of constituent communities over time and by doing so strengthen Indigenous land and management rights.
Bad local practices around livestock farming, slash-and-burn agriculture and deforestation for fuelwood are contributing to landscape degradation, but these can generally be resolved with the right technical support, resources and alternatives. The greatest threat by far is from industrial-scale habitat transformation and commercial-scale resource extraction. These degrade, destroy and fragment the natural resource base on which rural communities depend, mostly with nominal local beneficiation (most of the value is exported to distant markets). To address this, Indigenous communities need greater agency over the resources on which they depend, they need greater equity in the value emanating from well-managed natural ecosystems and their lives need to improve because of conservation measures, not despite them.
Even with the best intentions, many communities lack the resources and capacity to address the landscape challenges they face. Therefore, in a project’s early years, we take on direct responsibility for effective landscape management and we deploy skilled conservation management teams to project sites to address urgent threats. This is the second key, unique ingredient of our approach. We deliver this service through our in-country legal entities, but we leverage the considerable experience of the core Conserve team to build and support strong and inclusive local conservation management organisations that, over time, will increasingly reflect the demographics of the project landscape.
Improving livelihoods is about meeting people where they are and listening to truly understand. Off a foundation of trust, it is then about unlocking value with communities as equity shareholders, about addressing the direct and indirect costs of living with wildlife, and about involving communities at all levels in decision making on matters impacting their lives. Critically, livelihood benefits need to be distributed fairly and equitably at a household level. Ultimately, improving livelihoods is about improving choices and available opportunities through enhanced agency and equity, and about reconciling the legitimate short-term needs of people with the long-term persistence of nature.
The single most unique feature of most conservation landscapes beyond national parks is that they are almost always inhabited by rural communities, often amongst the most marginalised of society with little to no access to government services and amenities. Dependence on natural resources for survival is often absolute and livelihoods are enormously vulnerable to external threats and pressures. Effective management of the landscapes where these frontline communities live is therefore as much a human imperative as it is an ecological one. Continued degradation of these landscapes will trap people in unescapable poverty and render them totally vulnerable to climate and other external shocks. The conservation narrative therefore needs to shift from one focused on biodiversity only to one that also recognises, upholds and promotes resilient and healthy frontline communities. This is core to Conserve’s mission.
Conserve’s long-term approach represents a departure from short-term programmatic intervention and provides a platform to deliver enduring solutions. In almost all cases, the two most urgent challenges are human-wildlife conflict and habitat degradation. Conflict with wildlife delivers a negative conservation return and very often people living with wildlife bear a big cost. Any hope of delivering a solution that reconciles the needs of both people and nature depends fundamentally on a solution to address this cost. Only then can the promise of positive dividends from a nature-based economy be pursued. Habitat degradation is complex with multiple drivers. The biggest threats are external but localised practises that prioritise short-term gain over long-term sustainability of natural resources are also problematic. In almost all cases, communities are aware of the problems and the associated drivers but lack the resources and/or structures to intervene effectively. Our project teams are focused on working with our community partners to co-create solutions that are practical, affordable and achievable. When communities have a stake in conservation efforts, active participation increases.
Revenue is required to fund project management, to position conservation as a competitive land use and to unlock benefits for communities. Initially, Conserve secures project financing through philanthropy, but our goal is for each project to optimise its latent economic potential. To this end, we prioritise the sale of carbon credits and the development of tourism where appropriate. Conserve’s funding strategy recognises the importance of donor funds in the formative years of a project, whilst proactively identifying options to generate revenue in collaboration with communities and government partners. Our long-term goal is to unlock latent economic potential and transform this into shared financial value that simultaneously funds effective landscape management whilst lifting people out of poverty.
At the outset of a new project, we investigate options to build a diversified economy compatible with long-term conservation goals. Generally, these include tourism opportunities, conversion of community projects to community businesses, an array of nature-positive enterprise developments, and natural capital opportunities such as carbon and biodiversity credits. On identifying these opportunities, we undertake feasibility studies and, if viable, progress to business plans. We then aim to raise philanthropic or investment capital to seed each opportunity. Incubation through the start-up stages is crucial and from the start, we identify market and offtake solutions.
At Conserve, trust isn’t just a value—it’s the foundation of everything we do. It’s what gives us the mandate to operate, and we work hard to earn and sustain it every day. Our tenure on the ground takes different forms: service-level agreements with community conservancies, long-term leases for previously hunted areas, and co-management partnerships with governments and local communities.
But the paperwork alone doesn’t carry us forward. What really endures is the spirit of these agreements—the relationships we build, the promises we keep, and the mutual respect we nurture over time. That’s why we seek long-term commitments—often over a decade—because creating lasting capacity, strong governance, and financial resilience takes time, care, and shared intention.
We only work where we are welcomed. And the growing number of communities inviting us in speaks volumes. It tells us that something powerful is happening: a groundswell of support for a new conservation model—one that is locally led, deeply rooted, and full of promise. These partnerships fuel our optimism and remind us that the future of conservation is collaborative.
Six villages came together to form the Mwai Association, securing legal land tenure for the first time in their history. Choosing conservation over other land uses, they entrusted us as long-term partners to help manage their 100km2 concession.
ACTION: Support community-led conservation through secure land rights and trusted partnership.
In a landscape once overlooked, trust-building came first. By engaging deeply with communities around Tondwa Game Management Area,
we laid the groundwork for co-management rooted in shared purpose—not just paperwork.
ACTION: Prioritise trust and long-term relationships to uphold the spirit of tenure agreements.
Ethics
We do the right thing and lead by example.
Momentum
We do what it takes.
Biophilia
In nature is the preservation of the world.
Provenance
We recognise and respect local voices.
Humanity
We listen to understand and unlock the power of possibility through human connection.
Inclusivity
We make better decisions when we have heard every voice.
Conserve Global is a registered charity in England and Wales no 1195017 | registered company no 12705139 | 101 New Cavendish Street, 1st Floor South, London, W1W 6XH, United Kingdom