On February 28, 2024, the Alliance organized a webinar titled “Working with Economic Sectors around Wetlands: The Bankable Nature Solutions Approach.” This webinar was financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) as part of the second phase of the “Wetlands and CSOs” project. The session had 23 participants, including 57% women. 

The webinar highlighted private sector involvement in wetland conservation and featured practical examples of the Bankable Nature Solutions (BNS) approach: 

• Imen Rais from WWF-North Africa (WWF-NA) presented a case study on the Medjerda basin in Tunisia. 
• Eren Atak of WWF-Türkiye followed with another successful case on financial solutions for industry transformation in the Büyük Menderes River Basin, Turkey. 
• The presentations concluded with Yosr Nehdi, also from WWF-NA, discussing alternative strategies for private sector engagement developed in the Biodev 2030 project.

The webinar also discussed the importance of integrating economic sectors into conservation efforts and showcased innovative approaches to make nature conservation financially sustainable and impactful.

For those who were unable to attend the live event, a recording of the webinar is now available online. This provides you with an opportunity to watch the expert discussions and gain insights into how economic and financial strategies can effectively be used to support wetland conservation.

The next significant event under the AFD-funded project is an online training course, “Developing a National or Local Wetland Observatory: After the Data Collection,” scheduled for June 2024. This invitation-only course will further explore the themes of data utilization and conservation strategy formulation. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Christian Perennou at perennou@tourduvalat.org for more information.

Download the key document on the Bankable Nature Solutions approach here.

Watch the recorded webinar here (Secret Code: 3M#ZKPc*)