Explore business and conservation opportunities
Want to join the Nature Returns project with your business or the protected area you manage?
Whether you’re an entrepreneur seeking to serve conservation goals with your business or a manager dedicated to the care of a protected area, we’re here to provide you with all the information and support you need to join the Nature Returns project.
Explore the possibilities below and let’s work together to create a more sustainable future for our protected areas and local communities.
© Arta Starova
© Arta Starova
Why partner your business?
Protected areas are usually places where businesses are restricted or depending on regulations. These places may, however, become interesting opportunities for entrepreneurs, if businesses can contribute to turn around threats and problems to natural values.
We promote and support local businesses that can find synergies with the management of protected areas.
© CZIP
FOR BUSINESSES
General benefits
- An opportunity to identify and develop businesses within the boundaries of protected areas.
- Support to the business through an incubation fund and connecting to local development and funding agencies.
- Technical support through our academy for entrepreneurs.
- Networking with international partners and entrepreneurs testing the same approach and promoting exchanges for mutual benefit.
FOR BUSINESSES
Frequently asked questions
We are looking to collaborate and support business ideas that can contribute to reduce or reverse environmental problems or threats to protected areas. On the top of a good idea, we value business concepts that can bring local jobs and economic benefits to the communities in and around the protected areas.
The five pilot sites of Nature Returns are launching calls for business ideas, with an explanation of what problems and threats are to be addressed. You can check these calls or contact directly Nature Returns or the protected areas to tell us about your business idea.
Nature Returns will put entrepreneurs and the managers of protected areas in touch, for exploring the best ways to develop businesses. Also, we support entrepreneurs with our academy led by Connectology, and promote exchanges between entrepreneurs of different sites.
© Teresa Holstein
© Teresa Holstein
Why partner a protected area?
The innovative approach of this project is to create business opportunities that solve conservation threats, therefore improving both area management and residents’ income and quality of life.
If your protected area faces threats and problems that can potentially be solved by businesses that will contribute to both environmental solutions and the involvement of local communities, we can assist the management process and identification of threats, and promote and identify such businesses.
© CZIP
FOR PROTECTED AREAS
Overall advantages
- The use of an open-source methodology being tested and promoted internationally.
- An opportunity to bring extra resources and capacity to manage Protected Areas.
- Management planning and identification and assessment of threats by using Conservation Standards.
- An incubation fund to attract local entrepreneurs to establish their businesses, raise local economy and benefit conservation objectives.
- Networking with international partners and sites testing the same approach and promoting exchanges for mutual benefit.
FOR PROTECTED AREAS
Frequently asked questions
Protected areas are often affected by lack of resources, financial and technical, to address threats occurring within their boundaries. For complementing the existing budget, staff and funding, we offer innovative ideas to be developed by entrepreneurs, that can reduce or reverse those threats.
Businesses are found in a mix of different sources. We have already a list of potential business ideas to be explored. We also search for business ideas after identifying and assessing the threats at each site. Finally, we promote calls for business ideas to the local communities and entrepreneur landscape. The sum of these sources will identify what can be developed as a business case for supporting the management of protected areas.
We favor business ideas coming from the local communities or contributing to economic benefits of the communities of the protected areas.
We target protected areas where the management authority has interest and capacity to participate and solve a key pressure/threat with a business solution. Local regulations must allow businesses to operate, and operating licenses/permits can be secured. Management plans can exist already or be developed with the technical assistance of Nature Returns.
If you want to explore how useful our approach can be to your site, just contact us directly to tell us about the characteristics of your site and the threats that affect it; we will be happy to present solutions to you.