Our Principles
These principles ground and unite the work of the Cash for Conservation group :
1. Justice-Based Approaches: We are grounded in justice-based approaches to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises.
2. Potential of Unconditional Cash: We believe in the potential of unconditional cash to drive nature conservation by addressing underlying financial barriers. We do not advocate for one particular ‘basic income’ model, but are open to a range of models consistent with these principles
3. Diverse Understandings: We acknowledge diverse understandings of terms like conservation and sustainable development but are united by the principle of empowering people to live in harmony with nature.
4. Evidence Building: We are committed to building a robust evidence base on unconditional cash models to address the limitations of market-based instruments.
Strategy and workstreams
Our strategy involves four interconnected workstreams. Through these workstreams, we aim to significantly increase our influence on global conservation discourse, particularly ahead of major international events like the World Conservation Congress and COP Summits.
1. Practice & Implementation:
- Share best practices in delivering cash for conservation projects.
- Collaborate on project design and delivery.
- Develop and implement new projects.
To learn more or get involved, please contact our practice & implementation workstream lead, Isabelle Pelly, on isabelle.pelly@givedirectly.org.
2. Research & Dissemination
- Collect evidence on the theory and practice of conservation basic income.
- Develop and promote policy documents framing cash for conservation as an alternative to market-based instruments.
- Conduct formal monitoring and evaluation of projects.
To learn more or get involved, please contact our research & dissemination workstream lead, Robert Fletcher, on robert.fletcher@wur.nl.
3. Campaigns & Advocacy:
- Collaborate on media and communications opportunities.
- Pursue joint meetings with policymakers to influence the policy agenda.
- Organise events to raise awareness and influence opinion.
To learn more or get involved, please contact our campaigns & advocacy workstream lead, Patrick Brown (Equal Right), on patrick@equalright.org.
4. Funding:
- Share ideas and collaborate on fundraising efforts to support the group's work
- Influence donors to Market-Based Instruments to consider the benefits of direct redistribution as unconditional cash
- Collaborate around innovative funding models (e.g. Cap & Share, Forest Carbon Dividend).
To learn more or get involved, please contact our funding workstream lead, Martine Wijnstra (100 Weeks), on martine.wijnstra@100weeks.org.
