The Original Biodiversity Finance
Global targets for conservation and restoration are growing, yet financing biodiversity at scale remains a challenge—especially in regions with limited state capacity. Southern and East Africa offer an overlooked solution through decades of wildlife-based land use (WBLU)—such as ecotourism, hunting, and game meat—on private and communal lands. These models have delivered ecological and socio-economic benefits, often without subsidies or carbon finance. This seminar presents the first structured financial analysis of non-state WBLU enterprises, highlighting an early, practical form of biodiversity finance. While current debates frame biodiversity finance as a future goal, these landholders show how private investment and local enterprise already support restoration and conservation—offering key insights for policymakers and investors.
Date: 27 May 2025, 14:30
Venue: Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details: Atmosphere Room, ECI
Speaker: Dr Susan de Witt (Stellenbosch & University of Oxford)
Organising department: Environmental Change Institute
Organiser: Andrey Levitskiy (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: andrey.levitskiy@ouce.ox.ac.uk
Host: Environmental Change Institute (University of Oxford)
Part of: NatureFinance@Oxford Seminar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d8a1e506-de9c-4cdb-a38e-73f5ec2fd764@cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91
Audience: Public
Editor: Andrey Levitskiy