African Parks secures support for $4.6 million to advance results-based conservation finance

African Parks is pleased to announce that the Rob Walton Foundation has committed $4.6 million as part of an outcomes-based grant using Verifiable Nature Units (VNUs) as the proof of performance.

This funding directly supports biodiversity monitoring, community development and park infrastructure across four protected areas, including Majete Wildlife Reserve (Malawi), Odzala-Kokoua National Park (Republic of Congo), Garamba National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Zakouma National Park (Chad).

This commitment marks an important milestone in demonstrating the potential of VNUs to scale nature finance for protected areas.

By linking verified conservation outcomes to funding, VNUs offer a practical mechanism to support greater rigour, transparency and standardisation in conservation finance.

The Rob Walton Foundation’s support reflects a commitment to exploring innovative approaches that can help mobilise funding for conservation outcomes at scale.

“We see VNUs as an exciting mechanism for directing capital toward verified conservation outcomes. They offer a compelling model for philanthropy today, while helping demonstrate how rigorous, measurable conservation outcomes could support a broader range of financing approaches over time.” – Duko Hopman, Executive Director, Rob Walton Foundation

VNUs provide a standardised, transparent way to measure and fund conservation impact.

Each unit represents one square kilometre of nature where ecological integrity has been maintained or improved over an annual period and is linked to the actual cost of achieving and sustaining these outcomes.

As an independently verified performance metric, VNUs can support a range of outcomes-based financing mechanisms, including pay-for-performance grants, donations, nature contributions, bonds and credits.

African Parks’ long-term focus is to establish the infrastructure needed to unlock sustained, scalable financing for protected areas.

Next steps include reissuing VNUs, scaling projects and expanding their use to support additional financial instruments and attract more diversified funding.

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DUSABEMUNGU Ange de la Victoire

Award-winning journalist and communications professional, recognized with the APO Group’s inaugural Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Journalism Award for promoting African entrepreneurship. Content Manager at Top Africa News and contributor to various African media outlets. Experienced in content creation, digital media, communications, and digital marketing, with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Journalism from the National University of Rwanda. Also specializes in website design, management, hosting, and content development.

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