Building a Modern Financial Architecture for International Conservation
An ICCF Group Intiative in support of governments facing tightening budgets, shifting national priorities, and a rapidly changing geopolitical environment.
The Issue
Traditional models of international development assistance—especially for conservation—are under increasing strain.
At the same time, countries are confronting systemic risks driven by ecosystem degradation: threats to water and food security, economic stability, public health, and the reliability of global supply chains.
These challenges are no longer abstract environmental concerns.
Nature loss has direct macroeconomic and security implications, particularly in developing countries where instability can quickly spill across borders and affect U.S. interests.
Ensuring that partner nations can manage their natural resources responsibly is therefore a matter of economic resilience, strategic stability, and national security.
Our Approach
The ICCF Group’s flagship initiative responds to these realities by helping shape a new financial architecture for international conservation — one that is fiscally responsible, less dependent on foreign aid, and built on stronger partnerships with the private sector, philanthropy, and G7 member states.
The initiative explores practical, market‑driven mechanisms that mobilize new capital, strengthen governance, and support countries in managing their natural assets in ways that reduce long‑term risk and enhance stability.
This approach aligns with 21st‑century realities:
- Leveraging private investment rather than expanding government spending
- Supporting partner nations’ sovereignty and self‑reliance
- Reducing future security and humanitarian costs through proactive risk mitigation
- Encouraging G7 coordination to avoid duplication and maximize impact
By advancing innovative, partnership‑based financing models, the ICCF Group is helping build a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable system for international conservation—one that protects U.S. strategic interests while respecting fiscal constraints.
ICCF in Washington Supports Congressional Leaders who are Advancing the U.S. Foundation for Natural Security and Counterterrorism Act.
Protected and conserved areas are the cornerstone of global efforts to safeguard nature and natural ecosystems. Management of these areas that protects and restores biodiversity can provide clean air and water, food and medicines, poverty alleviation, and regional security. Inadequate management, driven by financial constraints, is one of the main obstacles to ensuring that protected and conserved areas provide the benefits people need to thrive.
Addressing the gap in financing for protected and conserved areas, estimated at more than $1.7B/year, represents one of the best opportunities for the U.S. government to protect biodiversity. This can be done by leveraging private-sector resources to support biodiversity conservation for the benefit of people and nature through a public-private partnership that can complement the work being done by federal agencies.
Championed by
the Co-Chairs of the International Conservation Caucus
The U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act was signed into law on December 22, 2024.
The law establishes and appropriates funds for a charitable nonprofit, now called the U.S. Foundation for Natural Security and Counterterrorism, which is not an agency or establishment of the United States, to promote the long-term management of protected and conserved areas in developing countries; to identify and support implementation-ready projects; to benefit indigenous peoples and local communities; and to encourage, accept, and administer private funds as leveraged by public contributions on a 1:2 split, public to private.
It is a new approach, innovative in the following ways:
- The Foundation allows for the deployment of resources leveraged by the private sector to reduce the burden on U.S. taxpayers.
- The Foundation will be focused and subject to yearly appropriations thus ensuring accountability.
- The Foundation will be run like a business with the aim of strengthening America’s security, economy, and global leadership.
This model makes our tax dollars go further, bringing peace, stability, and prosperity to strategic locations around the world, delivering real results for the American people.
More about Our Flagship Initiatives
The ICCF Group’s flagship initiatives advance global stability, U.S. interests, and partner nations’ ability to steward the natural systems that underpin economic resilience and security.
Our Initiatives
Strengthening Africa’s Parks and Strategic Landscapes
We help create conditions for security, prosperity, and long‑term stewardship of some of the continent’s most important landscapes.
Learn More
Delivering Stability and Strong Governance in the Amazon Basin
Working with our partners, we support Amazon nations close critical governance, policy, and financing gaps.
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Advancing Leadership in Ocean Stewardship and Security
In partnership with WWF, we support strategic shifts at the intersection of national security and the marine environment.
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