Practitioner’s toolkit for Nature-Positive Enterprises

What is a Nature-Positive Enterprise (NPE)?

NPE is defined by Fauna & Flora and Endangered Landscapes Programme grantees as financial viable business entity that sustainably derives value from natural and social capital in a land/seascape to attract and generate sustainable finance and positively contribute to nature conservation and restoration by ensuring local actors are equitably benefitted.

Landscape restoration projects often aim to facilitate the development of nature-positive economies by promoting sustainable land use and, in some cases providing training and facilitating enterprise development. However, while terms like ‘Conservation Enterprise’ and ‘Nature-Positive Enterprise’ (NPE) are widely used, there is little understandingof what makes them different from regular businesses.

While NPEs can enhance the value derived by local communities and landowners from existing cultural practices and traditional resource use, they are distinct from social-enterprise models.

This toolkit provides an array of assets for business design, and explores in-depth the unique facets of NPEs business models and principles:

Sustainable use of natural capital – being at the heart of the business model.
NPEs tend to be established in different markets/sectors, and contrasting geographies, such as rural/remote areas as opposed to urban areas, when compared to social enterprises; andNPEs are likely to have different scaling-up strategies and impact metrics.
NPEs are likely to have different scaling-up strategies and impact metrics.
NPEs in restoration projects tend to have further distinctions, such as the ability to convert increased natural capital from project activities into enterprise activities.

Case studies overview

The toolkit presents 9 initiatives that are promoting nature-positive economies and sustainable land use. Organisations from different geographies were chosen to provide actual case scenarios in restoration projects.