Nature’s Heartbeat expands support for locally led conservation to more Key Biodiversity Areas

Nature’s Heartbeat protects Key Biodiversity Areas through trust-based, locally led nature conservation. Building on a successful first year with numerous organisations and communities, the programme has received additional funding.

Header photo: © Britta Jaschinski

This new support comes from a private donor which has identified Nature’s Heartbeat as a unique approach to direct funding to multiple locally led nature conservation initiatives. With 3 million euro of additional funding, Nature’s Heartbeat will significantly expand its reach in Key Biodiversity Areas. These areas are vital for conserving biodiversity across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments. While in these important landscape’s nature is also facing increased pressure from destructive activities such as logging, mining, and agricultural expansion. And while the pressure on biodiversity is growing, civic space is often shrinking.

Building on IUCN NL’s more than 30 years of supporting civil society actors in nature conservation, Nature’s Heartbeat began last year, with support from the Postcode Lottery, as a network spanning seven landscapes in five countries. It will now expand into a broader support system for locally led action in twelve landscapes across seven countries. The programme will now work with nine consortium partners and support around fifty grassroots community-based and civil society organisations, with the aim to further expand support both in new and existing landscapes where the program is active.

Putting local leadership at the centre of nature conservation

The future of nature conservation depends on the people who live in and care for biodiversity-rich landscapes every day. Through Nature’s Heartbeat, a wide consortium of partners, works alongside civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples, community groups, and grassroots leaders. Together, we help safeguard nature while strengthening local rights, livelihoods, and resilience, in areas where it matters most.

Nature’s Heartbeat is built on a simple principle: decisions about nature conservation are most effective when they are made by the people who know the landscapes best. By providing flexible, long-term, trust-based support, the programme enables networks of local organisations and communities across diverse landscapes to determine what is needed to protect their forests, wetlands, wildlife, and natural resources. Through this approach, local actors can respond to emerging threats, strengthen conservation governance, advocate for environmental rights, and protect biodiversity in ways that reflect local realities and priorities.

Expanding conservation in Key Biodiversity Areas

The expanded programme will strengthen efforts in:

The Kahuzi-Biega–Itombwe landscape in the Democratic Republic of Congo, supporting community forestry and local conservation organisations.
The Kerinci Seblat landscape in Sumatra, Indonesia, strengthening social forestry and community-led protection of critical wildlife habitats.
The Saamaka territory in Suriname, supporting community leadership, women’s organisations and youth groups to safeguard a large traditionally managed forest landscape.
The Tompotika landscape in Sulawesi, Indonesia, strengthening community-led forest protection and conservation of its unique biodiversity in the face of growing mining pressures.
The Ñembi Guasu Indigenous Reserve in Bolivia, strengthening Indigenous-led conservation and landscape connectivity.
The Lore Lindu Landscape in Sulawesi, Indonesia, where existing Nature’s Heartbeat activities will be scaled up to strengthen community conservation and sustainable land use.

These landscapes support the livelihoods and cultures of local communities and cover millions of hectares of forests, wetlands and other ecosystems that are home to threatened and species that exist nowhere else in the world.

Building a global movement for locally led conservation

We are grateful for the trust of these private donors in the program as the expansion of Nature’s Heartbeat represents more than increased funding. It is a sign that there is a interest and need in a growing global and diverse network of local actors who are working locally led biodiversity action.

At the same time, we call on philanthropic foundations, governments, companies and other funding institutions to also join the Nature’s Heartbeat network and invest more in locally led conservation for Key Biodiversity Areas. This way we can jointly strengthen the support the great work in current landscapes and reach new landscapes to ensure that the people who are already safeguarding nature have the resources, knowledge and long-term backing they need to succeed.