Published on March 3, 2025
Conserving nature’s unique treasures comes at a cost. On this year’s World Wildlife Day, the United Nations calls for new, innovative finance to help ensure the survival of the species and ecosystems that sustain life on Earth. In Burundi’s Kibira National Park, The Nature Investment Facility, a UN-backed initiative, is demonstrating a potential way forward, channeling public, private and philanthropic funds into a nature-positive future for people and wildlife.
The montane rainforest of Kibira, situated only a few hours north of Burundi’s main commercial hub Bujumbura, teems with wildlife, from rare birds to colobus monkeys and chimpanzees. It offers enormous potential to support a thriving nature-based economy - but, amid political instability and persistent poverty across the region, this potential has long remained untapped while illegal activities such as logging and poaching threaten this precious ecosystem’s future.
However, a joint effort by the Burundian government, local communities and three UN agencies is now underway to transform Kibira into a safe and thriving home for local communities and wildlife and a sustainable resource for the county and its people. This effort is backed by the Nature Investment Facility, which was created in 2023 with support from Cartier for Nature to forge new pathways for public and private finance to flow into and boost nature.
The Facility helps create favorable conditions for nature-positive investment in key biodiversity hotspots around the world, such as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Biosphere Reserves. This includes the development of a pipeline of solutions that address drivers of ecosystem degradation and guide businesses towards nature-positive practices.
At its core, the Facility mobilizes and leverages public and private finance to help preserve these invaluable ecosystems while driving sustainable development. Established as a multi-partner trust fund by the UNDP, UNESCO and UNCDF, the Facility fosters collaboration with philanthropic funders, financial institutions, government agencies, entrepreneurs, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. Through UNCDF, the Facility can also provide concessional capital, such as below-market loans, to further reduce investment risks and drive nature-positive outcomes.
The Kibira National Park was selected as one of the first pilot sites for the Nature Investment Facility. Local communities, authorities, conservation experts and businesses will turn the park into the centerpiece of a thriving, nature-based local economy. Building on ongoing activities supported by the UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), in a first phase, the Facility fosters:
The Kibira Foundation, co-managed by the government and local communities, has coordinated the renovation of park facilities; equipped and trained the park’s local eco-guards; began the restoration of degraded parts of the park and negotiated a 10-year Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services agreement with the energy company Hydroneo. The company is completing a hydropower project on the Mpanda river to harness its rapids, thereby minimizing its impact on nature and biodiversity. Under the agreement, Hydroneo will provide funding for conservation activities such as the restoration of degraded forests.
In 2025, efforts continue to focus on park’s renovation including its main access road, strengthening local governance and participation of indigenous people in decision-making processes. In parallel, experts continue to work on the gradual habituation of chimpanzees, to allow for chimpanzee treks to be organized in the park in the near future. Taken together, these important steps help strengthen the monitoring and protection of Kibira’s biodiversity, reduce threats of illegal logging, poaching and armed conflict, and create an environment that will allow for private investment to start flowing into more nature-positive businesses in the surrounding area. This may include sustainable production of bamboo, honey, mushrooms, fruit or coffee as well as activities linked to eco-tourism.
The Nature Investment Facility has also developed a Tiger Landscape Investment Fund to channel nature-positive investment into tiger ecosystem conservation in Southeast Asia. It builds and nurtures a pipeline of investment-ready, locally-led projects to generate benefits for people and nature, and provide financial incentives such as guarantees to minimize the risk of private business loans in the future.
Photo credits: Chimpanzee images by Ben Buckland. All other images courtesy of The Nature Investment Facility.