Josh YatesBelmont University

A New Model for Investing in Planet and People

What if environmental protection and economic development can coexist in mutually beneficial ways?

What if ecotourism can protect the environment and support human flourishing at the same time?

Grant Title
Conservation and Rural Enterprise Research Collaborative (CARE-RC)
Legal Organization
Belmont University
Project Dates
Start Date: 12 December 2022
End Date: 31 March 2025
Grant Amount
$427,000.00

Jungles. Rainforests. Wetlands and woodlands. Grasslands and coral reefs. Biodiverse habitats are ecological marvels, sustaining a staggering variety of life. They contribute to the oxygen we breathe and absorb the carbon we produce. They are a life support system. And we, in turn, have been entrusted with their care.

But human activity has been upsetting this delicate balance. As world populations grow, natural ecosystems are shrinking at an alarming rate. Case in point: We’re losing a soccer field’s worth of tropical forest every six seconds, according to recent calculations.

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As world populations grow, natural ecosystems are shrinking.

Our remaining areas of high biodiversity are often remote, with limited infrastructure and economic opportunity. More and more, people’s need just to get by often impinges on what nature can provide for the taking – forests to be cut and sold, wildlife to be killed for eating or poached for profit, habitats to be cleared for growing food.

In 2000, a team of researchers identified 25 global biodiversity hotspots that contained as many as 44% of all plant species and 35% of all vertebrate species in just 1.4% of the earth’s surface. Those hotspots are increasingly in danger.

Overlapping Need, Overlapping Gap

A related and disturbing fact: Comparison against indicators of economic poverty reveals a large overlap between areas of globally important biodiversity and severe, multifaceted poverty. These two things are deeply related.

Unfortunately, economic development and environmental protection have mostly worked in silos, missing their deep interdependence. As a result, for many communities around the world, conservation is experienced as a top-down imposition that prioritizes nature over human needs and nurturing.

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Unfortunately, economic development and environmental protection have mostly worked in silos.

Just in time, that’s starting to change. There’s growing recognition that conservation must embrace locally appropriate solutions to succeed.

“It is critical that those communities living closest to nature are part of the conservation conversation. This will only be possible when conservation is integrated within the economic empowerment of communities inhabiting areas with both great biodiversity and high rates of poverty,” says Josh Yates, executive director of Belmont Innovation Labs at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., and PI principal investigator for the CARE Research Collaborative.

In response, Belmont and its partners in the CARE Research Collaborative supported the development of and promotion of the CARE (Conservation and Rural Enterprise) model. After a successful 20-year trial run in Sub-Saharan Africa, the time had come to develop the model further and test its validity for large-scale application through translational research and storytelling.

Creating a Bridge

Supported by a grant from Templeton Religion Trust, Belmont Innovation formed a collaboration of scientists, strategists, and community leaders, along with investors representing the University of Surrey in England, Impact Bridges in Canada, The Transformational Business Network in London, and ACLAIM Africa. Particularly invaluable were the contributions of ACLAIM, a Ugandan consultancy involved in data collection, and of Dr. Kim Tan of the Transformational Business Network for his experiences and insights into biotech and social impact investments.

The team’s task: provide foundational research for a pilot in-depth, 18-month pilot study of the CARE Model applied to ecotourism and the creation of a cluster of small and medium-sized businesses in the Budungo Forest near Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.

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Without economic freedom, local communities can’t engage with conservation as equals and determine their own choices about their natural heritage.
Josh Yates

The challenges are real and urgent. These are places where vital natural assets like forests and grasslands also critical habitats for vital species like mountain gorillas and chimpanzees are at grave risk. For example, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda is home to more than half of the world’s remaining 700 mountain gorillas, as well as being a vital carbon sink. However, there have been limited opportunities beyond subsistence agriculture for the surrounding communities. Meanwhile, in Budungo Forest, poaching for bushmeat and body parts, deforestation for wood fuel, and land conversion for agriculture are major issues. The forest includes 24 species of small animals, 465 species of trees and shrubs, 359 species of birds, 289 species of butterflies, and 130 species of moths. Plus, it’s renowned for its mahogany trees and is home to a Jane Goodall Institute project involving its 600-700 chimpanzees.

Both are prime areas for intervention. CARE determined to tackle the issues with an integrated approach that would take advantage of cutting-edge research tools and partnerships to guide investment where it’s needed most, ensuring every decision would be data-informed and impact-driven.

The Plan & the Proof

The Research Collaborative’s first step was identifying the social, economic, and environmental baseline impact measurements and research methodologies to provide a framework for evaluating and scaling CARE as a global model. Next, the Collaborative was charged with developing an integrated investment analysis to better position the CARE Project as an innovative and financially sustainable social impact investment vehicle for prospective philanthropic, foundation, and corporate funders. Their capstone task was to design a performance management system to allow the model to scale and be replicated by other global regions. The resulting 83-page how-to manual details the CARE model’s fully developed three core elements:

1) Discern – The process starts by understanding where it’s possible to have the most impact, using satellite imagery, ecological data, and community surveys to uncover opportunities.

2) Design – Next, the team collaborates with local partners to design enterprise models that restore ecosystems and strengthen communities.

3) Deploy – By developing, administering, and analyzing data collected through a variety of methods, baseline indicators are established for the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the project.

The Intelligence Behind the Model

Especially distinctive to the CARE model is its use of satellite imagery to provide a clear, scalable view of how ecosystems are changing over time. This allows for monitoring biodiversity and identifying early signals of stress or growth, allowing CARE teams to act smarter and faster, in partnership with local communities.

Now more than a mere concept, CARE is on its way to becoming a growing movement, guided by research, driven by collaboration, and committed to evidence-based results. For funders looking for investment opportunities, it’s a clear demonstration of what’s possible when innovation, collaboration, and rigorous research converge to provide a measurable and lasting impact.

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