Debt-for-nature swaps: the real deals, the funds they created and how to apply
120 matching capital sources on the AESFIP database · Last checked November 2026
A debt-for-nature swap lets a country refinance part of its debt on cheaper terms in exchange for binding commitments to protect nature. The savings are paid into a conservation fund that finances protected areas, marine reserves and community conservation for years or decades.
Swaps are negotiated by governments, conservation organisations, banks and development finance institutions — projects cannot apply for one. But the conservation trust funds they create run regular grant calls. This guide explains the mechanism, the main precedents, and how local organisations and developers reach that money.
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How a debt-for-nature swap works
Modern swaps follow a similar sequence:
- Existing government debt, often expensive bonds or loans, is bought back below its face value.
- The purchase is funded with new, cheaper debt — usually a bond or loan backed by political risk insurance or a guarantee from a development finance institution, which lowers the interest rate.
- Part of the debt-service savings is paid into a conservation trust fund or endowment.
- The government signs measurable conservation commitments, such as protecting a share of its ocean or forest, monitored over the life of the deal.
- The trust fund issues grants and investments to conservation projects, usually through competitive calls.
Precedents: the deals that defined the market
The first debt-for-nature swap was arranged in Bolivia in 1987 by Conservation International. In the 1990s and 2000s, the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act supported a series of bilateral swaps that funded forest conservation in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
The modern model started with the Seychelles in 2018. The Nature Conservancy helped restructure about $21.6 million of the country's debt, created the Seychelles' Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT), and the government committed to protecting 30% of its ocean — a target it met in 2020.
Larger 'nature bond' deals followed. Belize (2021) bought back its main international bond at a discount, financed by new debt with US International Development Finance Corporation political risk insurance, in exchange for marine protection commitments. Ecuador (2023) refinanced about $1.6 billion of debt to fund conservation of the Galápagos marine reserve, and Gabon (2023) completed a similar ocean-focused swap backed by a blue bond.
Who arranges swaps
Swaps involve a small group of actors: the government and its debt office; a conservation organisation that designs the commitments (The Nature Conservancy's Nature Bonds programme has led many recent deals); investment banks that arrange the new debt; and a credit-enhancement provider such as a development finance institution or multilateral development bank. Multilateral banks are increasingly involved in debt-for-climate and debt-for-development versions of the same structure.
How projects actually benefit
The money reaches projects through the trust fund, not through the swap itself. SeyCCAT, for example, runs grant rounds for marine conservation and blue economy projects in the Seychelles. Other national conservation trust funds — such as BIOFUND in Mozambique and the Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity of Madagascar — show how endowment-style funds finance local organisations over many years.
If your country has signed, or is negotiating, a swap: identify the trust fund that will receive the proceeds, its governance board and its funding priorities, and prepare projects that deliver the commitments the government has made. That is where the grant calls will focus.
Risks and criticisms to understand
Swaps are not free money, and the structure has limits:
- Debt relief is usually small relative to a country's total debt.
- Transaction costs and the length of negotiations are high.
- Conservation commitments must be monitored and enforced for many years.
- Local communities need a real say in how protected areas are designated and managed.
The funders
Each profile shows mandate, instruments and sector appetite. Verified contacts and application routes are available to members.
- Nature Conservancy Africa (NatureVest)Foundation · United StatesGrantsCatalytic CapitalDebt
- Blue Action FundClimate Fund · GermanyBlue Action Fund provides grants for marine conservation projects that establish, enlarge, or improve the management of marine protected areas and promote sustainable coastal livelihoods. Funding supports initiatives implemented by non-governmental organisations. Its activities target sensitive coastal waters in developing countries across Africa, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific.GrantsTechnical Assistance
- Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF)Climate FundThe Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) was established by the GEF at the request of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15 to support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Launched at the Seventh GEF Assembly in 2023, the fund aims to help countries strengthen national-level biodiversity management, policy, governance, and resource mobilization, including blended finance to leverage private sector financing. The GBFF can receive contributions from public, private, and philanthropic sources. It has streamlined procedures to provide efficient and impactful support for developing countries towards biodiversity goals, with a target of having 20 percent of its funding to support biodiversity action led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities.Grants
- Ocean Resilience and Coastal Adaptation Trust FundClimate FundThe Ocean Resilience and Coastal Adaptation Trust Fund (ORCATF) was established in March 2023 to increase the quantity and quality of investments in ocean health (including resilience and the blue economy) and coastal adaptation.Concessional DebtDebtGrants
- WALD Innovation FacilityClimate FundThe Innovation Facility is a grant-making facility designed to support the development and scaling of innovative carbon projects. In doing so, it seeks to play a catalytic role in mobilizing private capital for high-quality, nature-based carbon projects that contribute to both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation while delivering positive social impacts.Grants
- Arcadia FundFoundation · United KingdomUK charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin making large grants to protect nature, restore ecosystems and preserve endangered culture, with African conservation and landscape programmes.GrantsTechnical Assistance
- LEAF CoalitionCarbon Finance Mechanism · United StatesThe LEAF Coalition finances large-scale tropical forest protection through results-based payments and forward purchase commitments. It mobilizes public and private finance to reward tropical forest governments that successfully reduce deforestation, purchasing high-integrity forest carbon credits.Carbon Credits / ERPAResults-based Finance
- Oak FoundationFoundation · SwitzerlandSwiss-based private foundation with environment, marine conservation and climate programmes that grant directly to African civil society, research institutions and conservation organisations.GrantsTechnical Assistance
- Subnational Climate FundClimate FundThe Subnational Climate Fund (SCF) invests in mid-sized ($5-$75m USD) infrastructure projects, including sustainable energy, waste and sanitation, regenerative agriculture, and nature-based climate solutions. We partner primarily with subnational authorities to identify and implement these projects, financed with a blend of concessional and conventional capital, along with Technical Assistance grants that help mitigate risk and ensure financial and environmental goals are achieved. The SCF Fund features a dedicated, grant-funded facility ($28M) for Technical Assistance (TA) that provides technical support and grant funding to stakeholders in identifying and strengthening investment proposals for the Fund. In addition to financial performance, it supports implementers in ensuring the achievement of National Determined Contributions (NDCs), SDG impacts, and Nature Based Solutions (NbS). With the GCF's financial support, TA is managed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and implemented together with the Catalytic Finance Foundation and Gold Standard.Concessional DebtDebtGrants
- Global Shield Solutions PlatformClimate FundThe Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP) is a multi-donor grant facility. With the mandate to foster the actual development and use of Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) solutions, GSSP contributes to effectively addressing loss and damage exacerbated by climate change.Grants
- David and Lucile Packard FoundationFoundation · United StatesUS foundation whose ocean, fisheries and climate programmes support coastal and marine conservation, including work with partners in West and East African coastal states.GrantsCatalytic Capital
- Global Greengrants FundFoundation · United StatesGrassroots environmental grantmaker channelling small, fast grants to community groups, indigenous organisations and local environmental defenders, with a substantial African portfolio guided by regional advisory boards.GrantsTechnical Assistance
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Showing 12 of 120 matching capital sources. The remaining 108 — including their verified routes, ticket sizes and eligibility criteria — are reserved for members.
Common questions
- What is a debt-for-nature swap?
- An agreement in which a country's debt is refinanced on cheaper terms, and part of the savings is used for conservation under binding government commitments.
- Can a conservation project apply for a debt-for-nature swap?
- No. Swaps are sovereign transactions. Projects benefit by applying to the conservation trust fund that receives the proceeds, usually through competitive grant calls.
- Which countries have done debt-for-nature swaps?
- Recent examples include the Seychelles (2018), Belize (2021), Barbados (2022), Ecuador (2023) and Gabon (2023), alongside earlier swaps in Latin America, Asia and Africa going back to Bolivia in 1987.
- What is the difference between a debt-for-nature swap and a blue bond?
- A blue bond raises money for ocean projects. In recent swaps, a blue bond or loan is often the new, cheaper debt used to buy back the old debt, so the two can be part of the same deal.
Related guides
Official sources: The Nature Conservancy — Nature Bonds · SeyCCAT — Seychelles' Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust. Reviewed by the iSustain Global research team against funders' published criteria.