The Nature Conservancy (TNC) brings decades of experience operating at the interface where policy, finance, science, and sectoral decision-making converge. As a founding member of the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, TNC exemplifies how institutional and non-state actors can supply catalytic support while simultaneously learning from country-led demand.

TNC accelerates NBSAP implementation by helping countries mainstream biodiversity into economic sectors, unlock large-scale finance, and use spatial planning to resolve trade-offs between conservation and development, turning plans into actionable, funded pathways. This approach corresponds to country needs emerging through the MatchMaking Mechanism, including requests for policy coherence, resource mobilization, cross-sector coordination and implementation capacity.

This profile outlines where and how The Nature Conservancy supports country-led NBSAP implementation, helping readers identify potential collaboration pathways, understand TNC’s implementation strengths, and explore how these capabilities align with country-identified needs.

TNC sat at the table in the early days of conceptualizing the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership. In the lead-up to CBD COP15 in 2022, alongside Colombia and other early champions, TNC supported research, scoping, and deliberations on what an accelerator might do and how it might work. 

Leaders like Linda Krueger, Director of Biodiversity and Infrastructure Policy at TNC, supported these discussions, energized by the hope that the Global Biodiversity Framework could overcome the fate of the Aichi Targets, aiming for it to have not only strong ambition but also strong implementation. In an interview with the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, Linda recounted why founding the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership was so critical: “When you dig down, the Global Biodiversity Framework targets are not that different from the previous Aichi Biodiversity Targets. What’s different is that they’re tighter, include indicators, and are more focused on implementation. Yet, without support mechanisms, countries would still struggle to deliver. And that’s why we sought to create this type of mechanism. That’s why I think the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership is so critical.”

TNC signed the Declaration of Intent establishing the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership at COP15 in 2022 and has since served as an observer on the Steering Committee, supporting the design of an accelerator model that is country-driven, demand-led and solutions-oriented.

One of the most consistent requests from NBSAP Accelerator Partnership country members is support for embedding biodiversity into infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and finance decision-making. TNC has emerged as a global leader in this space, working with governments to:

• Align national infrastructure plans with biodiversity commitments, for example, in Peru, where TNC is supporting authorities to integrate biodiversity considerations into national infrastructure planning 
• Integrate biodiversity safeguards into energy planning, including new work in Gabon to identify energy pathways that minimize impacts on freshwater systems, and in India to guide renewable energy expansion with lower biodiversity impacts
• Reform agricultural and land-use policies to reduce ecosystem impacts, drawing on experience across multiple countries to address impacts from both infrastructure and agriculture

At CBD COP16, TNC supported countries to establish a Mainstreaming Champions Group, which helped secure a strong COP decision and led to the creation of sector-specific Communities of Practice, including a forthcoming CBD-endorsed Community of Practice on Nature and Infrastructure.

Financing remains one of the most significant bottlenecks for NBSAP implementation. TNC supplies countries with innovative financial mechanisms that align fiscal stability with conservation outcomes.

Notably, TNC has pioneered debt-for-nature conversions and nature bonds in countries including Seychelles, Belize, Barbados, Gabon, Ecuador and The Bahamas, refinancing over USD 1 billion in sovereign debt and generating approximately USD 400 million for long-term conservation. In parallel, TNC’s Finance for Permanence model delivers long-term, integrated financing packages that support national conservation visions. In 2025, the Eternal Mongolia programme is expected to mobilize nearly USD 200 million to support protected areas, restoration and community livelihoods, directly advancing Targets 1 and 3 and supporting climate co-benefits.

Despite its foundational role, spatial planning is often under-resourced in NBSAP processes. TNC addresses this gap by supporting countries with integrated, science-based approaches that help prioritize action and manage trade-offs across land, freshwater, and marine systems.

As Linda Krueger explains, “Spatial planning is critical for setting a baseline for everything else that needs to happen. It’s the only way to really address the drivers of biodiversity loss from land, freshwater, and sea-use change.” This work underpins TNC’s broader approach, linking directly to mainstreaming, finance, and protected areas while cutting across all Global Biodiversity Framework targets.

In practice TNC supports:

• Marine and terrestrial spatial planning
• Conflict-resolution tools for development–conservation trade-offs
• Open-source platforms such as Marxan, used globally for conservation prioritization

A flagship example is the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan, developed over six years with extensive stakeholder engagement and scientific analysis, balancing fisheries, conservation and economic use across a vast marine territory.

The MatchMaking Mechanism is a core component of the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership that connects countries and partners and drives collaborations vital to achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework and its 23 targets. 

As a founding member, TNC helped envision the platform and process and today remains a member ready to connect with countries through it.  TNC is particularly poised to respond to country requests for support related to:

• Mainstreaming biodiversity into sectoral policies and investment plans
• Spatial planning for land, freshwater and marine systems
• Biodiversity finance, debt conversion and domestic resource mobilization
• Policy coherence across biodiversity, climate and development agendas

As the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership matures, The Nature Conservancy sees strong potential for deeper collaboration that responds directly to country demand and supports long-term transformation. This includes developing sector-specific task teams to provide targeted, practical support where implementation bottlenecks are most acute, as well as advancing integrated finance hubs that link biodiversity, climate, and development finance to unlock more coherent and scalable funding pathways. TNC also emphasizes the value of South–South exchange, enabling countries to share experience and practical lessons on mainstreaming and implementation across sectors. 

For Linda Krueger, the proof of concept is already visible: “What gives me hope is seeing countries like Mongolia and Seychelles not just making commitments but actually delivering on them, often exceeding their targets. These aren’t isolated success stories; they’re proof that when we combine political will, innovative finance, and strong partnerships, transformational change is possible.”
At its core, TNC’s vision of acceleration reflects an understanding of acceleration not as a series of one-off interventions, but as a process of supporting countries to move away from business-as-usual through sustained, systemic change.

As Krueger puts it:

The Nature Conservancy’s role within the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership demonstrates how experienced institutional actors can supply targeted, scalable solutions while remaining grounded in country-led priorities. By bridging policy, finance and implementation, TNC contributes directly to the Partnership’s core mission: faster, more effective and more inclusive delivery of NBSAPs to achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.