Our Work
Latin America Region
trans-boundary conservation strategy
ICONS specialists led an assessment for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to identify regional transboundary conservation opportunities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean region. Our innovative planning model allows stakeholders to select and prioritize transboundary conservation investments in key regional sites.
Peru and Nambia
Conservation Finance and Sustainable Livelihoods
We worked with the IUCN Finance Incubator Initiative (INC) and local NGOs to develop a long-term conservation finance strategy for Cordillera Azul National Park in northeastern Peru, and a coalition of private landowners in rural Namibia. Project outcomes will build long-term finance mechanisms to support improved land use, public and private protected area management, and biodiversity conservation.
Mexico
conservation finance mechanism
ICONS is working with Mexico’s Protected Area Authority to help develop a financial instrument to support the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and protected areas. Our team is leading a participatory process to produce a road map to integrate the financial instrument within Mexico’s legal and policy framework.
Western Indian Ocean Region
conservation trust fund development
We work with a coalition of government, private sector, and NGO representatives from eight countries in the Western Indian Ocean region to design, finance, and implement a conservation trust fund to protect coastal and marine biodiversity and mitigate the impacts from climate change. Our experts help develop the legal and governance framework, administrative and operational procedures, and the financial planning and asset management strategy.
Guinea and Sierra Leone
Community Conservation Strategy
We worked with government, NGO, CBO, and private business leaders from Guinea and Sierra Leone to build a conservation fund and community-driven livelihoods program to support public and private protected area management and biodiversity conservation. We trained government authorities, financial institutions, and community leaders in conservation enterprise development, and led the development and implementation of enterprise initiatives to support local organizations and businesses. We also assisted government, NGOs and civil society to develop agreements and technical portfolios for an adjoining transboundary conservation area.
Eastern Africa
strategic and business planning
ICONS facilitated the development of an innovative strategic plan and business plan to guide the work of Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), the leading marine science institution serving east and south African and Indian Ocean nations.
U.S.A. (New York)
land conservation planning
The ICONS team developed a comprehensive conservation plan for the Rensselaer Land Trust, a private land conservation trust in the Adirondacks region of New York State.
Cuba
sustainable marine protected areas
We provide technical support and training for members of the Tri-National Marine Science Initiative to balance new business developments with the management and finance needs for Cuba’s marine protected areas.
Global
Conservation Finance Strategy
Our experts are working with the UN Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) to develop conservation finance tools and instruments, and guidance and training materials to support the implementation of the BIOFIN initiative in 31 countries.
Cambodia
National Environmental Planning
The ICONS team worked with a coalition from the government ministries, civil society organizations, and local and international NGOs to help revise Cambodia's National Natural Resource and Environmental Code, including the development of a decentralization strategy and comparative regional case studies to guide code implementation.
Bahamas
conservation’s fund
A blue bond build from the restructure of foreign debt is providing sustainable long-term finance and investments to support coastal and marine conservation in the Bahamas. Our work provides technical and advisory support to the conservation trust leading this innovative conservation finance strategy.
Native Nations – North America
conservation’s finance mechanism
Our work with the Buffalo Nations Grassland Alliance, a coalition of 15 Native Nations in Montana and the Dakotas, led to a comprehensive feasibility analysis and action plan for a conservation trust to support native livelihoods, small businesses, and native led restoration and conservation of grassland ecosystems in the Northern Great Plains.
Pan-Africa
Conservation Trust Fund
ICONS developed a feasibility assessment and strategic action plan for the development of an African led independent trust fund dedicated to eliminating the financial gaps constraining the management and expansion of Africa’s most threatened protected and conserved areas.
Africa
Combating Wildlife Crimes
Lessons learned from actions carried out to combat wildlife crimes provided the foundation for a comprehensive strategy to strengthen institutions and build financial sustainability for anti-poaching task force teams in East and Southern Africa. The outcomes from our work aimed to ensure task force teams have the institutional and financial support needed to fulfill their mandate of effectively disrupting wildlife crimes at national and trans-boundary landscape scale and disrupt the supply and demand sides of the illegal wildlife trade chain.
Okavango River Basin Trust
conservation’s finance mechanism
ICONS worked with leading practitioners from the Okavango River Basin Commission to establish and guide the implementation of a tri-national trust fund to support sustainable infrastructure development, climate resilience, and biodiversity conservation across the vast river basin connecting Angola, Namibia, and Botswana in Southern Africa.