TNC NatureVest Ocean Protection
Enriched Impact Investor · Found: 2026-03-10 21:35
NatureVest by TNC: using finance and investing to protect oceans, including debt-for-nature conversions and blue bonds.
Funding Details
- Funder
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC) — NatureVest
- Funding Goal
- Impact investing and sustainable finance for conservation at scale. NatureVest sources, structures, and closes investment deals that deliver environmental, social, and financial returns. Focus areas: forestry and carbon, water and agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, infrastructure and renewable energy, sovereign debt solutions (Blue Bonds/Nature Bonds), and conservation tourism.
- Funding Amount
- USD 4 billion in committed impact capital since 2014; deal sizes vary widely by type
- Deadline
- Rolling — NatureVest operates on a deal-by-deal basis, not via open calls (Rolling)
- How to Apply
- Contact NatureVest directly via naturevest@tnc.org. No open call for proposals — NatureVest proactively sources deals in collaboration with TNC field teams and external partners.
- Target Region
- Global
- Contact
- naturevest@tnc.org — The Nature Conservancy, NatureVest team
- Official Page
- https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/how-we-work/finance-investing/naturevest/
- Last Checked
- 2026-03-15 13:24
Application Checklist
Eligibility
Project Scope
Required Documents
Constraints
Summary
NatureVest is The Nature Conservancy's Impact Investing and Sustainable Finance team, established in 2014 to transform how conservation is funded through market-based mechanisms. It is not a grant programme but a deal-making and investment structuring unit that raises and deploys private and blended capital for conservation outcomes. Thematic areas include: forestry and carbon sequestration; sustainable water and agriculture; fisheries and aquaculture investments; renewable energy and infrastructure; sovereign debt refinancing (Blue Bonds, Nature Bonds); and conservation tourism finance. All projects must support TNC's 2030 goals including conserving 4 billion hectares of marine habitat and avoiding 3 billion metric tons of CO2 annually. Eligible activities include: structuring equity funds for sustainable land and ocean use; providing flexible loans to ecotourism businesses; facilitating sovereign debt refinancing to generate conservation funding; aquaculture venture investing; and partnering with institutional investors across the risk/return spectrum. Geographic scope is global. NatureVest works in partnership with TNC's field teams in over 70 countries across all continents and major ocean regions. NatureVest does not award grants; it structures investment deals. Partners are institutional investors, governments, and co-investors with financial capacity to participate in structured conservation finance deals. NGOs can partner as implementation partners rather than financial beneficiaries. Since 2014, NatureVest has closed deals worth USD 4 billion in committed capital. The team has grown significantly and is expanding its Financial Advisory service to help TNC staff identify market solutions. Contact via naturevest@tnc.org.
Historical Context
NatureVest established in 2014. Reached USD 4 billion in committed deals by 2025. Blue Bonds and Nature Bonds (sovereign debt refinancing) have raised USD 1.2B of that total. Blue Revolution Fund (aquaculture) raised EUR 93 million. Separate Sustainable Debt team spun off from NatureVest in 2020 for sovereign debt instruments.
Why it was added
FI1: NatureVest ocean protection investment vehicle
Sources
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