“There is science-based innovation but there is also innovation in the broader sense: How do you innovate for getting people or organisations involved in conservation projects?
“How do you innovate for new financial models? How do you innovate around nature-based solutions?”
Before moving into the sector, Reynolds worked in technology. While there, she observed the dynamism of thinking about innovation and how tech-focused organisations are always thinking about what needs to come next.
For her, the way TNC bases its actions on scientific rigour and then applies innovation, are central to the organisation’s ability to be effective.
“When you’re thinking about complexity, obviously you need good science, but you also need to understand how to convince people effectively and what working well with other people looks like.”
This can come down to getting the right people around a table and saying: “We’ve got this big problem we need to solve, but none of it sits entirely in our remit. So how do we collectively make change?”
An example is the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance. Here TNC NZ has partnered with iwi leaders, local and central government to restore ecosystems covering more than three million hectares across the top of the South Island. Some costs are funded by the five councils in the region, and iwi fund projects in kind with time and other resources. There’s also some funding from TNC’s global head office and active fundraising in New Zealand.
Working with government agencies is vital. Historically, they have dominated the conservation sector along with non-government organisations (NGOs) who work hard but have limited financial resources. Projects are often under-funded and local.
TNC NZ aims to change that, in part by operating on a larger scale; changing systems across entire regions, even nationwide and by bringing in new financial tools so the money is there for more effective solutions.
Business collaborations
Reynolds says TNC NZ has two private funding sources. First, there is philanthropy. The other comes when there is an opportunity to align environmental goals with businesses.
Philanthropists typically have a clear sense of what they intend to change and will work alongside TNC NZ to get there. With businesses, the relationship is more nuanced. Reynolds says the corporate world is turning a corner in its relationship with nature as it starts to understand the importance of climate change and there is a growing realisation of the risk it brings.
“Businesses are now, for the first time, having to think about what’s their impact on nature, and how much they rely on nature.”
TNC sees an opportunity to partner with business organisations as they look for a vehicle to help with matters such as restoring places where they operate or investing in nature-based solutions because that makes commercial sense for them.
“Our Land for Life project is an example of where we are looking for an innovative financing solution that helps us find new ways of bringing money to the restoration space. We’re still working through the business model. It is a collaboration between our Naturevest team, which does our impact investing thinking, and TNC global.”
Land for Life was formerly the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Right Tree Right Place programme. It aims to build long-term resilience and sustainability into the region’s farming systems.
Today the regional council is working with TNC NZ. “We’re looking to develop an innovative tool to support recovery in the region,” Reynolds says. “The project started before Cyclone Gabrielle and focused on reducing sedimentation in waterways. Then when Gabrielle hit, it became much clearer and much more evident what is needed to reduce topsoil loss.”
The scale of the project is huge and looks to include 560,000ha, about 40 per cent of the total area of Hawke’s Bay.
Estimates put the damage from Gabrielle at more than $13.5 billion. The partners developed a business case with the support of Te Uru Rākau — Ministry for Primary Industries. If the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, The Nature Conservancy and central government approve the collaboration it has the potential to be key as the region emerges from the effects of the cyclone.
Blue carbon is another collaboration where TNC NZ is working with central and local governments, iwi and communities to understand how coastal wetlands capture and store CO2 from the atmosphere.
Reynolds says it is part of an international TNC programme that uses new science. “We’re looking at how much atmospheric carbon is being sequestered by saltmarsh. Then, when we understand this, we want to look at how we can build this into the carbon credit system.
That way, the people who are restoring saltmarsh can get financial benefits from the carbon credit process.
Last year TNC NZ led a feasibility study and is now working on a comprehensive data collection programme at seven pilot sites from Northland to Nelson-Tasman, on both public and private land. TNC says it expects to see results in 2025.
Abbie Reynolds
Abbie Reynolds is country director for The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand and has worked in conservation, climate change and sustainability for 15 years. She is on Westpac’s Sustainability External Advisory Panel and, until recently, was a director at Auckland Transport. Reynolds is currently completing a Next Foundation Fellowship focused on ways to accelerate uptake of solutions that address both climate change and biodiversity loss. In the past she was CEO of Predator Free 2050 Ltd. Earlier she was executive director of the Sustainable Business Council. In that role Reynolds was a co-founder of the Climate Leaders Coalition.
· The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand is an advertising sponsor of the Herald’s Sustainable Business and Finance report.
