India’s growing population has placed immense pressure on agricultural lands, resulting in nearly 40 percent of India’s land being degraded, with 3.7 million hectares suffering from the depletion of soil organic matter and nutrients. Also, the access to subsidised but still expensive synthetic fertiliser is challenging for many smallholder farmers. Therefore, the use of agro-chemical alternatives has gained traction to support sustainable agriculture.  Biochar (in combination with biological fertiliser) improves soil fertility, water retention, neutralises acidity in soils and acts as a long-term carbon sink. However, the very limited number of businesses currently engaged in market-oriented biochar production is partly a consequence of technological and infrastructural limitations. To support market expansion, community bioresource enterprises have been established in six districts of Maharashtra/India. The goal is to promote the use of biochar among small-scale and female farmers through a sustainable business model.

Ecuador is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, with rich fauna and flora. However, economic reliance on non-renewable resources and unsustainable agricultural practices have threatened its biodiversity. Sustainable entrepreneurship offers an alternative to align economic activities with environmental protection. Yet, low-income women, youth, and other vulnerable groups face barriers in accessing credit to start small businesses.

Amid this situation, the National Corporation of Popular and Solidarity Finance (CONAFIPS) of Ecuador, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), developed a Social and Environmental Risk Management System (SARAS) tool: a free and automated software that enables credit unions to screen loan applications against social and sustainability criteria.

As of August 2024, credit unions approved USD 804 million in green credit using SARAS, fostering a nature-positive economy, conserving biodiversity, and supporting women and the youth.

Women have a fundamental role in biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica and globally. However, gender-based barriers limit their access to biodiversity-related financial mechanisms, such as payments for environmental services and credit for sustainable agriculture and bio-businesses.

In 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (MINAE) and the Biodiversity Finance Imitative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the umbrella programme +Women +Nature to promote gender equality in biodiversity. Central to this initiative are three mechanisms to increase women’s access to finance, including two credit lines and one payment for environmental services scheme.

These mechanisms have strengthened women’s agency in conservation through USD 6,979,050 in credit lines and 530 payment for environmental services contracts, contributing to biodiversity conservation and inclusive economic development in Costa Rica.

This Solution centres on establishing an operational indigenous plant nursery as part of an active restoration programme in the Grootvadersbosch landscape, South Africa. The nursery is used not only to propagate locally appropriate indigenous plants, but also as a practical training hub for community members involved in restoration.

The approach addresses key challenges including invasive alien plants, degraded riparian and forest-edge habitats, limited local restoration skills, and shortages of suitable planting material. By integrating training with hands-on nursery work and field implementation, the project has produced thousands of indigenous plants, restored degraded sites, and built lasting restoration capacity within the local community.

Women have a fundamental role in biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica and globally. However, gender-based barriers limit their access to biodiversity-related financial mechanisms, such as payments for environmental services and credit for sustainable agriculture and bio-businesses.

In 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (MINAE) and the Biodiversity Finance Imitative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the umbrella programme +Women +Nature to promote gender equality in biodiversity. Central to this initiative are three mechanisms to increase women’s access to finance, including two credit lines and one payment for environmental services scheme.

These mechanisms have strengthened women’s agency in conservation through USD 6,979,050 in credit lines and 530 payment for environmental services contracts, contributing to biodiversity conservation and inclusive economic development in Costa Rica.

In the context of accelerating global climate change, public awareness and participation in climate action across China remains limited. To address this, Friends of Nature launched the “Citizen Climate Action – Linglong Program” in 2021, with support from the Energy Foundation, the Beijing Xianfeng Changtian Foundation, and Partnerships for community Development. The program aims to identify and support individuals who already have a certain professional foundation but are at an early stage of engaging with climate issues. Through structured knowledge-building, mentorship, community support, and small grants, Linglong Program helps fellows design and implement citizen-led climate actions. By cultivating climate leaders and long-term change makers, the program establishes replicable and scalable models of climate action that inspire broader public engagement.

This solution is part of Sparśa, a Nepali non-profit initiative producing compostable menstrual pads made from locally processed banana fiber.

It describes the first phase of the production chain, detailing how banana pseudostems are sourced from farmers and processed at a factory near the plantations. The solution includes replicable CAD-supported designs for semi-automatic fiber extraction and pseudostem-cutting machines, enabling local manufacturing and adaptation. It also outlines sustainable fiber-drying methods and a circular system that converts the remaining biomass into organic compost fertilizer, which is returned to farmers. The extracted fiber is then turned into absorbent paper sheets used as the core of Sparśa menstrual pads. Overall, the solution strengthens circular economy practices, creates rural employment, empowers women, supports environmentally responsible menstrual hygiene options in Nepal, and offers a model that can be replicated in other banana-growing regions worldwide.

In Panama’s western highlands, small coffee farmers face growing pressures from pests, plant diseases and climate change. Heavy reliance on chemical pesticides has harmed biodiversity, degraded soils and threatened pollinators. This solution shows how endophytic fungi, microorganisms that live naturally inside plants, can serve as effective biological pest control adapted to local conditions. Fungal strains were identified and transformed into low-cost formulations that were tested on coffee farms, where they significantly reduced the need for chemical inputs. The initiative brings together scientists, government institutions and local communities, with a strong focus on training and empowering women farmers. By addressing biodiversity loss, land degradation and gaps in technical capacity, the project strengthens sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience. Farmers benefit through higher yields, lower costs and healthier ecosystems, creating a scalable model for sustainable coffee production in Panama and beyond.

Nosy Hara National Park is part of Madagascar’s network of protected areas. A genetic reservoir of marine biodiversity, it is a sustainable fishing site par excellence, for the fishing community living around the park. Mangrove crabs, octopus and reef fish are the most commonly caught species. The Park is renowned for the production of octopus, fish for local, regional and even national consumption.

Overfishing in accessible areas by small-scale fishermen, the failure of nomadic fishermen to comply with fishing closures, and the lack of park staff for surveillance are among the daily challenges faced by park managers.

Co-management through the effective involvement of the local community in the preservation of the park is an approach adopted, particularly by the women’s community of the village of Ankingameloka, who actively participate in the co-monitoring of mangroves, the restoration of the ecosystem and the monitoring of fishermen’s daily catches.

A shea value chain created around a protected areas landscape in Ghana led to greater finance flowing into community and conservation. Mole National Park is a biodiverse ecosystem, and Ghana’s largest protected area. Communities surrounding the Park benefit from its natural resources, but were using them unsustainably. In 2008, A Rocha Ghana and IUCN Netherlands Committee implemented a Community Resource Management Area (CREMA), a governance and management framework created by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, to empower local communities for natural resource management. Inhabitants designed a shared plan for the landscape that simultaneously addresses conservation and socio-economic wellbeing, including building a shea value chain.  Implementing organisations engaged with the Savannah Food Company to become a business partner with the CREMAs, particularly women’s groups who collect shea nuts, and help create a fund to support conservation action in the community.

This solution addresses poverty reduction in Zanzibar for its coastal communities through a more sustainable management of their natural resources, additional income, and consequently, better quality of life. The approach of implementing ecological aqua farming of bath sponges with women in coastal communites promotes healthy economic growth, reduces environmental pressure and threats to marine life and othernatural wildlife, improves public health and strenghtens the economic and social status of women.

To ensure the participation of women in conservation, a gender-based approach is being utilised in Rwanda. The Rwandan government has started to mainstream gender in protected area management and natural resource use. ARECO is a member of IUCN and supports community-based initiatives which focus on women’s participation in conservation, and lobbies for integrating specific participation of women in national policies