This blog post is authored by Courtney Kehoe, Director of Partner Engagement, at the Nature Investment Hub, drawing on insights shared during a recent Scaling Investment in Indigenous-led Conservation and Stewardship webinar co-hosted with First 30×30 Canada.
Credit to speakers: Steven Nitah (Managing Director-Canada, Nature for Justice), Jeffrey Brown (Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer, Nature Focus Development), Samantha Whiteye (Director, Indigenous Leadership Pillar, Carolinian Canada), Thea Silver (Senior Director, Environmental Impact with RBC), Carolynn Beaty (Executive Director, Sitka Foundation), and Adam Spence (CEO, Co-Founder and Director, SVX).
Scaling investment in Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship requires relationship building and intentional pathways that honor and align with Indigenous values and worldviews. In a webinar we co-hosted with First 30×30 on December 11, we explored the role of philanthropy and the private sector in scaling investment in Indigenous-led conservation across Canada. We’re reflecting on these four key pieces of advice, three actionable ideas, two enduring messages, and one call to action.
Relearning is a key pillar of reconciliation, and an important step in creating truly inclusive and impactful conservation finance solutions that enable Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship activities to flourish in Canada.
No matter who you are, there is a need to better understand the historical and systematic barriers faced by Indigenous communities – including around access to capital – and our respective roles in reinforcing them. It is through an unlearning and relearning journey that we can dismantle these barriers, and that we can approach partnerships with the humility and respect required. We can start to see conservation through a holistic lens that honours the past and current contributions of Indigenous peoples to biodiversity preservation and stewardship.
Investing in Indigenous-led conservation requires more than just action – it requires a shift in mindset. As we explore better ways to partner and invest, we must expand our understanding of outcomes and challenge colonial narratives and language.
For too long, success in conservation has been measured by metrics such as hectares restored or species protected. While these are important, they don’t tell the full story. Indigenous stewards also deliver other important cultural, social and economic outcomes that need to be accounted for in decision-making frameworks.
We also need to get comfortable surfacing some uncomfortable truths, and check internal assumptions. This includes rethinking financial modeling assumptions around risk. Risk is often reduced to immediate financial returns, ignoring broader social, ecological, and cultural outcomes that contribute to long-term stability and success. Funders and investors must be willing to redefine and broaden their definition of success. They must recognize that Indigenous stewardship often mitigates risks we cannot yet measure through traditional regenerative economies and relationships with the land and has reliably done so for thousands of years. Co-designing financial models with Indigenous partners can help surface and challenge assumptions, align values, and foster trust.
There is no one model for investing in Indigenous-led conservation. Holders of capital have a variety of ways to invest and each instrument can be uniquely designed to align with community goals and generate mutual benefits. There are equally diverse approaches to incentivizing or “de-risking” opportunities to attract additional funding or capital – ranging from outcomes-based financing, to providing guarantees, to creating a capital stack. It is possible for investors to achieve a return on investment without being extractive or reinforcing colonial approaches. By prioritizing equitable partnerships, investments can support community visions and deliver measurable social, cultural, and environment benefits while delivering financial outcomes.
How we choose to channel capital into Indigenous-led conservation matters. Every step of the process should be grounded in building better relationships, with the power of capital used to strengthen these relationships – not exert control or influence, or perpetuate harm. By shifting our focus from transactional funding to relational approaches and genuine partnerships we have the opportunity to create investment opportunities that are in touch with what Indigenous communities actually need.
To that end, creating intentional spaces dedicated to diverse collaboration is crucial. These spaces should be rooted in the values of respect, empathy, trust, and desire to co-create mutual reciprocal outcomes between two or more partners. This is often referred to as Ethical Space.
And while the webinar focused around investment in the form of funds, it doesn’t always have to come in that form. Funders and investors can also leverage expertise, guidance, networks, and advice from across different areas of their organizations to support Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship activities.
When speakers were asked what could be done—or thought about—differently to make a significant impact on the flow of philanthropic and private capital into Indigenous-led conservation in Canada, three big ideas were put forward and stood out for us:
Two profound messages from Indigenous leaders on the panel truly stood out in terms of the ‘why’ behind this work:
“I get so passionate about the work that Indigenous communities are doing because I get to spend time with them on the land. I get to listen to their hopes, their dreams, and I get to meet the youth and see firsthand what they’re fighting for and protecting for future generations.” – Samantha Whiteye
“It is an investment not only in conservation, but in the Canadian economy because these are economic development activities as well. We could create economies of scale based on conservation in places where they are typically very difficult to create. Places that are isolated, but have ecological interconnectedness that can provide a service not only to the region or province but the global community.” – Steven Nitah
In 2025, we call on philanthropic and private sector leaders to take one step–big or small–to direct more capital into Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship activities in Canada. Whether it’s exploring funding opportunities, forging new partnerships, or simply learning more about the impact of your investment, your action is part of a larger movement.
As we continue down this path together, let’s remain committed to listening, learning and showing up to design and implement solutions that are good for people and the planet.