News

We're expanding our APAC team and looking for passionate people to help advance nature-based solutions for water security across the region. See open roles:

🤝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫: you're the person who makes things happen.
This is a senior delivery role for someone who can lead project execution, hold their own in technical client conversations, and make smart course-corrections in real time. More here: https://lnkd.in/eCb5fguX

📄 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭: you're a project powerhouse with range.
This role is for someone who thrives in unstructured environments, can manage complexity across multiple workstreams, and brings real consultancy or project finance chops to the table. More here: https://lnkd.in/eZ7Yix_K

🔬 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝: you're the technical anchor on water and watersheds.
We need someone who has done the hard modeling work — not just GIS or engineering, but real hydrological analysis — and who can now take ownership of designing analytical approaches and coordinating project-level science delivery. More here: https://lnkd.in/ehiRdyWz

🧪 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞: you're a hydrologist ready to do meaningful work.
You've got solid modeling experience and you're looking for a role where your technical skills connect to real-world water outcomes. You're ready to roll up your sleeves in a dynamic, mission-driven team. More here: https://lnkd.in/eJddxN8E

Open to candidates based in Thailand & the Philippines. The Nature for Water Facility is a TNC-led program. These positions are employed through an employer-of-record arrangement and are not direct TNC employment.

Nature for Water is proud to have partnered with CAF -banco de desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe- on a collaborative effort focused on advancing how nature can be better integrated into water‑related decision‑making.

This work reflects the value of trusted partnerships, shared learning, and a common ambition to explore more sustainable approaches across Latin America and the Caribbean.

It also highlights N4W’s role in supporting development banks as they advance their green financing objectives.

Grateful for the openness, engagement, and collaboration throughout the process — and excited about what this relationship can enable going forward. Looking forward to continuing the conversation. 

Water security starts long before a river reaches a city. It begins in headwaters, wetlands, and rangelands, in the landscapes that quietly sustain communities and economies downstream.

This new film from Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region NPC brings that upstream–downstream connection to life in the Blyde catchment, showing how healthy ecosystems underpin water, livelihoods, and resilience across the region.

It’s a powerful reminder that investing in nature-based solutions is ultimately an investment in people and place.

We’re grateful to collaborate alongside partners supporting this work and the broader Kruger to Canyons landscape.

Last week, our team joined local partners and stakeholders for a field mission to the Yala. The visit offered valuable insights into site conditions, ongoing pressures, and the opportunities ahead as we continue implementing our GO Fund project.

The Yala wetlands are ecologically significant and deeply connected to local livelihoods, yet they face increasing degradation from competing agricultural and grazing activities. Seeing these dynamics firsthand is essential to shaping practical, locally grounded next steps.

The lessons gathered during this trip will help guide our work to strengthen the health, resilience, and long-term sustainability of the Yala ecosystem.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is launching a call for consultants to conduct a usability and UX/UI analysis of WaterProof, a free web-based tool supporting Nature-based Solutions for water security and flood mitigation.

We are seeking an experienced consultant or team to assess the current user experience and propose improvements to navigation, clarity, and accessibility for a wide range of users.

▪️ Application deadline: 20 February 2026
▪️ Submit applications to: pilar.galindo@tnc.org

This consultancy will help strengthen WaterProof as a practical, accessible decision-support tool for watershed planning worldwide. Read more below.
 

We’re excited to share our N4W 2025 Yearbook, a snapshot of a year defined by collaboration, learning, and action across watersheds around the world.
From project launches and on-the-ground implementation, to Asia-Pacific expansion, GO Fund progress, and global events, this yearbook captures the people, partnerships, and places that shaped Nature for Water in 2025.

What you’ll find inside:

• Highlights from watersheds including Black Volta, Yala, K2C, Norfolk, Lower Kafue, Avon, Yaque del Norte, Mendoza, and more
• Milestones from our growing work in Asia-Pacific
• Reflections on how nature-based solutions are advancing water security
• And, the great people behind the work

A huge thank you to our partners, colleagues, and local leaders who make this work possible, and to the N4W team for bringing this yearbook to life.

Join The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Pacific Institute, LimnoTech, Second Nature Ecology + Design and the CEO Water Mandate for the official launch of BioBA, a practical, science-based framework designed to help companies and partners identify, measure, and communicate biodiversity benefits within corporate water stewardship and biodiversity projects.

BioBA addresses a critical gap by enabling projects to move beyond risk mitigation toward credible, nature-positive outcomes, aligned with emerging global initiatives. During the event, participants will be introduced to the seven-step BioBA methodology and explore how it can be flexibly applied across different contexts and geographies.

12 February 2026
11:00 AM EST

Fire, when carefully planned and managed, can play a powerful role in restoring ecosystems and protecting water sources. Join us for an upcoming webinar exploring how fire management is being applied as a NbS to improve water quality, water availability, and watershed resilience.

Through real-world case studies from Africa and the Americas, speakers will share practical experience with prescribed burns, wildfire response, and invasive species control—highlighting what works, what’s being learned, and how these approaches are governed and monitored.

When: 27 January 2026 - 6:00–7:30 PM Nairobi | 11:00–12:30 AM EST

Featured case studies include:
▪️ Living Lands (South Africa)
▪️ Rio Grande Water Fund (New Mexico, USA)
▪️ Blue Forest (USA)
▪️ Greater Cape Town Water Fund (South Africa)

The Nature Conservancy and Nature for Water are headed to Bangkok for the International Water Association and Development Congress where we’ll talk water, nature, climate and more. Come find us at the following sessions and join the discussion:

Session 1: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Action: The Role of Water Utilities

Around the world, forward-looking water utilities are recognizing the increasing risks posed by climate change and working with nature to adapt. Join us to explore case studies from utility leaders like Ardian Wiedilaksono (Semarang Water Utility, Indonesia), Alma Abrasaldo (Bayawan Water District, Philippines), Gary Moys (Veolia), and discover how they’re leading advancements in nature-based solutions (NbS) at scale along the urban to rural gradient.
Date & Time: Tuesday, December 9 – 15:30–17:00
Room: MR109 (E+F)

Session 2: Introducing the new IWA Nature-based Solutions Cluster: NbS from Source to Sea:

Explore the newly launched IWA NbS Cluster and discover how nature-based solutions can contribute to a resilient future for the global water sector. This interactive World Café will explore basin-scale solutions, wastewater, stormwater, and urban NbS.

Speakers include: Rob Cunningham (TNC), Guenter Langergraber (BOKU University), Douglas Nyolei (N4W), and other NbS experts.
Date & Time: Friday, December 12 – 10:30- 12:00
Room: MR107 (A+B)

The Nature Conservancy and Nature for Water will be on the ground at the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) World Water Congress 2025 in Marrakech, spotlighting the future of innovation and nature-based solutions in the global water sector.

Here’s where you can find us:

Session 1 – Innovating for Scalable Nature-Based Solutions: 3 December 2025

We’ll explore how tools like WaterProof, advanced modelling, and collaborative governance can unlock NbS at alandscape scale. Case studies from TNC’s Resilient Watersheds Strategy and the Nature for Water Facility will illustrate practical pathways for moving from pilot projects to large-scale implementation.

Session 2 – Accelerating Innovation in the Water Sector: From NbS to AI: 4 December 2025

This high-level panel will examine the evolving landscape of innovation, from ecosystem restoration to digital technologies and AI, and what it takes to bring these solutions into mainstream water management.

Last week at COP30 in Belém, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH signed a landmark MoU to scale finance for nature-positive and climate-resilient outcomes. This collaboration brings together development expertise, conservation science, and innovative finance to unlock investment where it matters most.

For Nature for Water, this announcement is especially meaningful:
one of the initiatives referenced in the agreement: the Lower Kafue Watershed Investment Programme in Zambia, is among the programs we’ve had the privilege to support alongside local partners. Seeing it included among global examples of nature finance innovation reinforces the importance of locally grounded, landscape-scale solutions.

This partnership between GIZ and TNC aims to expand tools such as nature and environmental impact bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, biodiversity credits, and blended green–grey infrastructure — helping make conservation more investable and strengthening resilience worldwide.

Water is precious—especially to those of us who live in the desert. In New Mexico, the Rio Grande River and its tributaries support a variety of wildlife, supply water to agriculture, and provide drinking water to more than half of the state’s population.

The Rio Grande Water Fund was created by over 100 signatories that includes businesses, state agencies, NGOs and advocacy groups to secure water and restore forests and riparian areas. This approach is used because when our forests are healthy and resilient to fire and climate change, we can maintain source water quality and increase its storage.

Nature for Water (N4W) is inviting proposals for the development of a Governance Structure and a Sustainable Funding Road Map to support the Lower Kafue Sub-Catchment Watershed Investment Program (LKSC WIP). This work will complement the ongoing Design Phase of the LKSC WIP.

Why it matters:
Previous analysis by N4W revealed that the LKSC WIP’s portfolio of nature-based solutions could increase annual flow in the Kafue River by approximately 10%, equivalent to 1.1 billion m³ of water. Your contribution could help turn this potential into reality.
▪️ Refer to the Terms of Reference (ToR) below
▪️ Deadline for applications: November 21st, COB (Eastern Standard Time)
▪️ Questions? Reach out to: diana.madrigal@tnc.org

Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. One of our core values is our commitment to diversity. Therefore, we strive for a globally diverse and culturally competent workforce. Working in 72 countries, including all 50 United States, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org

Nature for Water (N4W) is TNC’s technical assistance group that provides hand-in-hand help to place-based champions that are developing local watershed investment programs that rely on Nature-based Solutions to drive water security outcomes. The program aims to support 40-60 place-based engagements over four years via a mixture of pro-bono and fee-for-service partnerships. 
 

Photo credits: Patrick McCarthy

Join The Nature Conservancy (TNC), International Water Association and WaterWorX for an informative session about nature-based solutions (NbS) and water security at the upcoming Global Water Operators'​ Partnerships Alliance/UN-Habitat (GWOPA) Congress in Bonn.

▪️ What: “Water Operators partnering with Nature for a Resilient Future”
▪️ When: Tuesday, 28 October | 4:00 PM CET
▪️ Where: Bonn, Germany — with online participation available

This session will explore how water operators are partnering with nature to build more resilient and sustainable systems, sharing experiences from across the globe on designing and implementing green-grey infrastructure portfolios.

Speakers will discuss how NbS can complement traditional water infrastructure, reducing risk, extending asset life, cutting costs, and delivering co-benefits for biodiversity, livelihoods, and communities.

The climate crisis is accelerating—and with it, the risks to global food, water, and biodiversity systems are colliding in devastating ways. This new resource maps where these risks converge, dialing into specific risk zones and introducing four archetypes to guide landscape-level Nature-based Solutions (NbS), grounded in real-world case studies.

The analysis indicates that by 2050:

• 25% of land will see drought frequency increase by 70%+—with spikes up to 2,500% in regions like North Africa.
• 36% of land will face surface water stress; 86% of that will be severe.
• Groundwater stress will rise by 30% globally.
• One-third of Earth’s surface will exceed freshwater nitrogen thresholds harmful to ecosystems and human health.
• 64% of freshwater biodiversity hotspots** will be at risk—most outside protected areas.
• Up to 25% of global crop nutrient production (zinc, iron, vitamin A) is at risk.

The report introduces four archetypes of major water-related risks and distinct solution sets to guide action.

Dive into the full report and explore how integrated, landscape-level approaches can help communities and ecosystems thrive in the face of climate change.

Nature for Water had the opportunity to engage with officials from the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC), the Eswatini Department of Water Affairs (DWA) and the Ministry of Health - Eswatini Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (MoH) during a training on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for water security and the use of WaterProof.

Hosted in collaboration with The World Bank, EWSC, DWA, and MoH, the session focused on exploring how NbS can be effectively integrated into national water programs to enhance resilience and optimize investments.

The discussions highlighted the potential of NbS to complement traditional infrastructure, improve ecosystem health, and deliver long-term benefits for water security. As a result, the partners expressed a strong commitment to embracing NbS in both existing and upcoming projects, aiming to build more resilient and sustainable watersheds and water systems across the region.

About WaterProof: WaterProof is a free-to-use platform that helps decision-makers quickly identify, prioritize, and estimate the costs and benefits of potential NbS interventions. Through easy-to-interpret maps and data, it provides:
▪️ Summary watershed characterization
▪️ NbS portfolio recommendations
▪️ Full lifecycle costing
▪️ ROI and co-benefits estimation

We are excited to see growing interest in NbS and to continue supporting partners like EWSC, DWA, and MoH on their journey toward a more water-secure future.

Photo credits: Douglas Nyolei

The Yaque del Norte Water Fund (FAYN) launched its Business Case, marking a milestone in advancing Nature-based Solutions for water security in the Dominican Republic.

Developed with technical support from the Nature for Water Facility, the Business Case presents a portfolio of strategies—ranging from conserving native ecosystems and restoring forests, to promoting sustainable agriculture, silvopastoral systems, and artificial wetlands.

The findings are clear: these solutions not only improve water quality for 1.8 million people, they also extend the life of the Tavera-Bao reservoir, reduce sedimentation costs, strengthen hydroelectric generation, and deliver biodiversity and climate resilience benefits across more than 96,000 hectares.

We are honored to have supported FAYN in building this evidence-based roadmap and look forward to the next phase of collective action. 

Flowing through Wadawurrung Country, it supports tens of thousands of people across regional hubs, providing vital cultural and environmental values and nurturing the wellbeing of these communities.

Recently, the Net Nature Positive Forum in Geelong brought together businesses, utilities, and local leaders to explore how investing in nature can restore the Moorabool and Barwon Rivers and secure a more sustainable future for Australia’s fastest-growing region.

In partnership with the Committee for Geelong, Barwon Water, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, and the Geelong Chamber of Commerce, The Nature Conservancy in Australia, Nature for Water supported discussions on how nature-based solutions and environmental markets can unlock real opportunities for both business and biodiversity.

Photo credits: Shutterstock

Investments in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for water security are on the rise (new reporting shows they doubled over the past decade, reaching $49 billion in 2023). 

So, what’s holding us back from truly mainstreaming these investments around the world?

The new report, The Power of Policy, reveals that effective policy conditions are one missing link. 

The report shows that scaling NbS requires more than funding—it demands coherent laws, cross-sector coordination, and community leadership among other critical enabling conditions.

Join us on October 1st at 10:00 ET / 15:00 BST / 16:00 CET for a webinar hosted by TNC and IWA to explore how strategic policy reform can help unlock NbS investments at scale.

Listen in English | Spanish | Portuguese

Freshwater species are disappearing faster than any other group on Earth. Alarmingly, more than half of all terrestrial species at risk of extinction depend on the same degraded water sources that human communities rely on. As climate change and human development intensify, the need to protect these ecosystems has never been more urgent.

Nature-based solutions offer some of the most effective—and cost-efficient—approaches to safeguard freshwater systems and the biodiversity they support.

Join us for an interactive session exploring how conservation programs around the world are monitoring and assessing biodiversity outcomes.This webinar will highlight real-world example from:

✔️ Global AI biodiversity and Biodiversity benefit accounting reports 
✔️ China: Qiandao Lake—wetlands biodiversity assessments & monitoring 
✔️ Amazon: Freshwater Fisheries biodiversity management & monitoring 
✔️ Ecuador: Biodiversity monitoring framework in the Andes and biodiversity recovery in Antisana 
✔️ South Africa: Greater Cape Town—freshwater biodiversity gains from invasive species clearing

When: 30 September
5 PM Nairobi / 10 AM EST