Working with all stewards of the environment to accelerate conservation worldwide.
Enduring Earth is an ambitious collaboration that works with all stewards of the environment to accelerate conservation worldwide. We seek to protect and conserve our planet’s ocean, lands, and freshwater, and secure long-term financing for conservation, economic diversification, and community prosperity. This is built on a commitment to uphold the rights of people and create opportunities for sustainable growth.
NEWS: On June 25, 2024, the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative was announced. The historic agreement was led by 17 First Nations, in partnership with the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia, and is the realization of decades of collaboration.
The initiative is a model for long-term conservation that brings together partners, funding, and plans to manage 10 million hectares of culturally and environmentally significant ocean, through a network of marine protected areas. Once the MPA network is fully implemented, the area will cover an estimated 30 percent of the Great Bear Sea, including new protections and potential enhancements to existing MPAs, and conserve 84 species at risk, using traditional knowledge and science.
The PFP will bring $335 million in new long-term financing to support durable conservation, community-led economic development and diversification, long-term funding for Indigenous Guardian programs, and stewardship and management. Built on a system of co-governance, the PFP is estimated to create 3,000 new jobs and 32,000 days of skills training.
“This ground-breaking initiative, led by 17 First Nations, launches a new era of collaborative governance in marine conservation, stewardship, and Marine Protected Areas. It represents a beacon of hope for the future ‒ a future where ongoing management and stewardship are not just aspirations, but realities. Together we have forged a path where prosperous communities and stewardship go hand in hand, where economic growth is synonymous with environmental stewardship.”
The Great Bear Sea project is part of Enduring Earth’s global network of PFPs.
Prior to Enduring Earth, the founding partners had worked with five countries to conserve 86 million hectares of lands, ocean, and freshwater using the PFP model. The partnership was established in 2021, and since this time Enduring Earth has facilitated the agreement of three new PFPs, securing 89 million hectares in durable funding for long-term conservation and community development. These agreements include the Herencia Colombia PFP in June 2022, the Eternal Mongolia PFP in April 2024, and the Great Bear Sea PFP in June 2024. This success is built on local leadership, co-development and governance, and the support of an engaged global community that is committed to this innovative and proven sustainable finance approach.
Currently, 175 million hectares of lands, ocean, and freshwater are durably conserved through the PFP model worldwide, an area equivalent to three times the size of France.
Illustration by Anuximana Jade Hanuse, artist and carver from the Nuxalk, Wuikinuxv, and Kwaguł nations
Photos courtesy of: Tlowitsis Nation/Josh Neufeld; K’ómoks First Nation/Josh Neufeld; Kitasoo Xai’Xais Territory/Moonfish Media; Deirdre Leowinata/Coast Funds.
Nature underpins every aspect of life on Earth, but the planet’s biodiversity is declining rapidly. A 2019 report by the U.N. found up to 1 million plant and animal species are facing the threat of extinction, and at the same time, climate change is devastating lives, communities, and economies.
The Enduring Earth initiative has emerged as a beacon of hope in response to these challenges. Central to our approach is a model known as project finance for permanence (PFP) – also referred to as a PFP, which secures long-term investment in conservation initiatives by tying sustained funding to tangible, measurable goals encompassing both social and environmental benefits. Projects are collaboratively designed, locally-led, nationally supported, sustainably funded, and highly accountable, with the goal to inhibit nature’s decline and produce robust conservation outcomes at a global scale.
Looking ahead, by 2030 Enduring Earth aims to protect 600 million hectares in 20 PFPs worldwide. This kind of durable and large-scale conservation, with a commitment to uphold the rights of communities and create sustainable economic growth, will benefit lives and livelihoods, reduce and offset carbon emissions, and secure biodiversity.
Our Commitment
Nature
Durably protect and conserve lands, freshwater, and ocean
Community
Work in partnership with all stewards of the environment
Climate
Build resilience to a changing climate
This decade offers our greatest opportunity to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. As we find ourselves at this global tipping point for people and nature, together we can accelerate and sustain durable conservation at a pace and scale never seen before.
Enduring Earth represents one of the biggest opportunities to catalyze large-scale conservation rapidly and efficiently to meet the challenges facing the planet today and in the future.
A PFP is a financial model that brings together governments, Indigenous peoples and local communities, funders, and other partners to secure long-term conservation, full and sustained funding, and community benefits. Through this approach, protected places stay protected because they are collaboratively designed, locally-led, nationally supported, sustainably funded, and highly accountable. The strong structure of a PFP agreement provides confidence that each project will be fully funded, well-managed, and positioned for long-term success.
The PFP model fully funds large-scale conservation projects upfront and secures major commitments to conservation. Our approach recognizes that economic development and resilient communities are instrumental for conservation permanence. Enduring Earth is committed to uphold the rights of people and create opportunities for sustainable growth; working together, we have what it takes to create a better and more prosperous future.
For Durable Conservation
Project Finance for Permanence is a tool to enable governments and local communities, in partnership with funders and NGOs, to secure long-term management and financing for networks of conservation areas in the form of a deal with a single closing agreement.
Enduring Earth is a collaboration of The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund and ZOMALAB, the family office of Ben and Lucy Ana Walton.