Shoshanna Dean

Last week, the 2025 cohort of our Peregrine Accelerator for Conservation Impact came together in Montreal to wrap up what has been an incredible six months of learning, connecting, and creating durable impact for the North Atlantic Transboundary Landscape. I always get a bit sad at the end of a program that is so inspiring to work on, but to see the tangible growth of each of the projects led by the eight teams participating in this year’s Accelerator brings a joy that is unmatched.

The Accelerator is a flagship program of the Salazar Center that acts as a searchlight for place-based conservation solutions with breakthrough potential in North America. Over a six-month period, the Center invests time, money, and resources into annual cohorts of project teams that are working to protect biodiversity, increase climate resilience, and advance community wellbeing in a designated transboundary region. The 2025 cohort comprised eight project teams from across North Atlantic Canada and the U.S., collectively representing thirty NGOs, universities, and Tribal and First Nations.

Their projects are widely varied—representing conservation challenges including but not limited to landscape connectivity, coastal resilience, forest health, Indigenous leadership and access, policy levers, community engagement, and innovative financing—yet complement each other in their long-term thinking and interdisciplinary approach. Each project addresses a serious challenge for the ecosystems and communities of the region, and each tea recognizes that the work they are doing cannot be siloed, but instead requires partnerships, integration of non-dominant ways of knowing, and envisioning impact at scales beyond our normal conservation planning.

Following six-months of workshops, mentorship, and peer learning, the cohort recently came back together in Montreal to conclude the program with a final presentation event. Over our three days together we heard from each team about not only their progress, but where their projects are headed and what resources they need to be successful. In between our more serious conversations, there was ample time to celebrate the community that has been built within the Accelerator and space to envision what this group can continue to accomplish within their projects, as well as at a regional scale by working together.

Though I could talk about the cohort for a long time, there were a few throughlines that were obvious throughout our time in Montreal:

Firstly, these groups are thinking at scale. We know that conservation challenges don’t just happen in isolation, and instead require whole-of-systems and landscape approaches that account for the scale and complexity of the threats nature is facing today. The Peregrine cohort is incorporating this recognition into their work and implementing solutions at scales beyond just where they live and work. Eels Back, led by the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, is working through a transboundary, cross-sector coalition to restore and protect Atlantic eels across their migratory habitats that span multiple watersheds all the to the Sargassos Sea. Eels have become a sort of emblem for the 2025 cohort, as the species travels through the scope of almost every project, unbeknownst to most groups before being a part of the program. In New Brunswick, Nature NB is expanding its flagship Healthy Coasts program to the Bay of Fundy, recognizing that coastal health for the province must be led by communities at a scale greater than they have been working at previously.
Another thing this cohort is great at? Imagining new and innovative solutions and making them a reality. Community Forests International, in partnership with the Wolastoqey Nation, Mi’gmawe’l tplu’taqnn, Fort Folly First Nation, and the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group in New Brunswick, is developing a first-of-its-kind stewardship fund that will be collaboratively managed across the coalition, and provide long-term, durable funding to support the stewardship of the nation’s traditional lands. The Housatonic Valley Association is reimagining how to reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions. Building on their Follow the Forests program, their new approach will target driver behavior as the main threat to species that are crossing roads.
The cohort presentations also emphasized the need for elevating the leadership and buy-in of communities across the region in order to be successful. The Ecology Action Center in Nova Scotia is empowering coastal communities to collect data and drive decision-making for coastal habitats through the Coast Check program. Cold Hollow to Canada in Vermont is a key hub for forest owners and community leaders to access funding, knowledge, and resources for long term forest protection and stewardship. At the center of these projects is the long-held knowledge, values, and heritage that communities bring to the table that make conservation projects stronger and more successful.
Finally, each group demonstrated that to be successful in this work, we need authentic and intentional collaboration. The partnerships that have formed within and outside of the cohort demonstrate that none of this work can be done in isolation, and to scale innovative solutions, garner financing, and achieve meaningful impact that reflect the needs and skills of all stakeholders, collaboration must be at the core. The coalition formed between Wabanaki leaders, the Schoodic Institute, and the Maine Coast Tidal Restoration Network is a critical partnership to ensure Wabanaki sweetgrass harvesters have safe access to their traditional harvesting grounds, which will in turn lead to healthier and more resilient coasts in Maine. The Conseil régional de l’environnement Chaudière-Appalaches (Regional Council of the Environment Chaudière-Appalaches) is bringing together three regional councils in Quebec to create a connectivity plan for one of the most important terrestrial corridors in North America that will enhance livelihoods, wildlife mobility, and landscape restoration across the region. These partnerships demonstrate the power of coming together across boundaries – political, cultural, and sectoral—to create inclusive solutions for nature.

Though the final presentation event signals the end of the 2025 program, we know that the community and relationships that have been formed are far from over. The Salazar Center will continue to convene this group and provide resources where needed, and the many partnerships that have developed between different project teams indicate that their work together is just getting started.

I am leaving Montreal feeling proud and grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to work not only with the teams in the cohort, but to have gotten to know each of the individuals behind the amazing work. At the end of the day, conservation is a human endeavor, and behind every great idea, project, and partnership is a collection of individuals who are passionate about building resilient landscapes, supporting the longevity of their communities, and being in relation with all living beings around them. I hope that the individuals whom we got to know over the past six months will walk away from the program feeling inspired and empowered to take their work to the next level following their Accelerator experience.

Interested in learning more about the 2025 Peregrine Accelerator cohort? Read about their projects and see the full scope of their work.

The Accelerator is headed to the Baja-Sonora Transboundary Landscape in 2026. Interested in supporting the program? Learn more here or reach out to Catie Boehmer.

Have you noticed the dizzying number of terms out there to describe the innovative work using nature to solve some of our most pressing environmental challenges? Nature based, natural climate, and nature positive are just a few of the phrases that have entered the vernacular of practitioners across many sectors from conservation to tech and politics. The language around this topic is becoming increasingly complex and nuanced, with multiple terms being used, often interchangeably. But what are the differences between these approaches and why does it matter?

The Urgency of the Moment

Our climate and biodiversity are facing dual interlinked crises. Experts have warned that if we do not act quickly on reducing our emissions, the Earth will warm beyond 2.0° C which will put humans and ecosystems in peril. More recently, one study found that about 30% of species have been globally threatened or driven extinct since the year 1500. With international agreements such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework marking major milestones for global cooperation, there is still a need for efforts to be coordinated to best meet these global goals. As more and more research shows that neither problem can be solved in a silo, there has been an urgent call to increase attention and resources on a tool that has been right in front of us all along—nature.

Conservation strategies that utilize nature can effectively and efficiently deliver dual climate and biodiversity benefits, all while building resilience for humans and ecosystems. As these strategies increase in popularity, so does the terminology being used to describe them. These terms have been quickly adopted by NGOs, corporations, governments, and individuals to communicate their work, which has led to a lack of clarity as to the differences between each one.

Let’s break down the differences between the three (there are a lot more) terms most commonly used in the field to help you navigate the nature-based vocabulary landscape.

Nature Based Solutions

The umbrella term that includes strategies that use nature to address a problem and deliver climate, biodiversity, economic, and/community health benefits.

The most popularly used term surrounding this issue is Nature-based solutions (NbS). This all-encompassing umbrella term is defined by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) as “actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity benefits.’’ First used in 2008 by the World Bank, the term has taken off in popularity, becoming mainstream in the worlds of business, conservation, politics, and more. Given the pace and scale of the adoption of this phrase, the term has faced widespread scrutiny from multiple groups. To address the critiques, measures of accountability are quickly becoming developed by third parties.

NbS can differ greatly in what they entail and address. Green infrastructure, ecosystem restoration, urban greening, coastal resilience projects can all be examples of NbS, though their ultimate goals may differ. What they have in common is that they are solutions that utilize nature to confront challenges faced by humans and ecosystems. The website Nature-Based Solutions can help you to break down some more of the different terms under the NbS umbrella.

Natural Climate Solutions (NcS)

A subset of nature-based solutions, that address a climate-driven problem and deliver climate change mitigation, adaptation, and/or resilience benefits, typically focused on emissions reduction or carbon capture using nature.

Under the umbrella of NbS, the term Natural-climate solutions is becoming more common as well. These strategies are part of NbS, but are activities that specifically aim to address a climate-driven problem and deliver climate change mitigation, adaptation, and/or resilience benefits, typically focused on emissions reduction or carbon capture through natural ecosystems (Nature4Climate). These actions should have measurable targets directly related to reducing or mitigating carbon emissions using nature, that ultimately contribute to the global Net Zero goal. Examples such as reforestation projects designed for carbon capture and regenerative agriculture that improves soil carbon can be included under the NcS umbrella.

One scientific study found that NcS have the potential to mitigate up to 37% of our carbon emissions, making them a powerful addition to the suite of tools being used to address climate change and meet the global goal of holding global average temperature rise below 2° C. NcS can link to carbon markets to receive innovative financing mechanisms, or report towards global emissions targets, which has spurred a great deal of interest in their ability to tackle the climate crisis.

Nature4Climate offers some great resources including this interactive map and a glossary of NcS terms.

It should always be noted that utilizing nature to address climate challenges cannot be a substitute for the rapid decarbonization of our industrial world. These strategies must be used simultaneously if we are to sustain our world as we know it.

Nature Positive

A global goal to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and lead to a net increase of biodiversity by 2050.

In recent years, a new term has entered the dialogue: Nature Positive. As countries have been working to set targets for carbon emissions and sustainable development for years, it has become glaringly obvious that a similar time bound goal for nature to halt and reverse biodiversity loss is necessary. This term was originally introduced in 2021 when a group of experts came together to write "A Nature-Positive World: The Global Goal for Nature.” where they argue for the need to set rigorous and measurable targets for biodiversity recovery. In their paper, the authors introduced the goal of “three measurable temporal objectives: Zero Net Loss of Nature from 2020, Net Positive by 2030, and Full Recovery by 2050” as demonstrated by the image below.

Think of Nature Positive as the cousin of Net Zero. Where Net Zero specifically focuses on curbing carbon emissions, Nature Positive addresses biodiversity loss. There can be significant and impactful overlap between these strategies when used strategically. There are now many organizations and countries that have incorporated Nature Positive into their messaging and frameworks, the latest being the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

You may hear the term nature-positive solutions thrown around as well. Similar to natural climate solutions, nature positive “contributions” or “solutions” are what an individual entity can quantify of the maintenance and improvement of natural processes, ecosystems, and species over time at a project site, that ultimately contribute towards the global goal. Basically, individual entities cannot claim themselves to be “Nature Positive” but can contribute to helping reach this state through quantifiable actions that lead to an increase in biodiversity at a local scale. Check out Nature Positive by 2030 for more information on understanding the development of targets and standards if you want to learn more.

Language Matters

While the world has been strongly focused on climate goals for many years, biodiversity is at risk of being left behind. For years Nature-based solutions have drawn criticism from the conservation community, particularly when a project has detrimental impacts on an ecosystem or community, as well as inaccurately recording and claiming their contributions to carbon emissions. However, despite criticisms, the field is rapidly growing, with non-traditionally environmentally minded sectors such as business and tech beginning to invest large sums in nature. It’s critical for people, inside and outside the environmental field, to understand the differences between these terms and the strategies behind them. Just one example is that being able to appreciate the nuances will help consumers recognize egregious greenwashing and empower them to hold the transgressors accountable. What better way to stay on track to meet global goals?

Still curious about what the future of these strategies looks like? Join the Salazar Center at the fifth annual International Symposium on Conservation Impact in Denver, Colorado, on October 11 and 12. We will explore how nature-positive solutions can help address both climate and biodiversity goals, to help strengthen the resilience of communities and ecosystems across North America.

Symposium Registration

Author: Shoshanna Dean

Impact, Community, and Celebration: Wrapping up the 2025 Peregrine Accelerator

Nature-Based Terminology: Understanding the lingo that will get us to natural solutions