This piece was originally published as a Forum Story under Nature and Biodiversity for World Economic Forum on August 5, 2026.

Private capital investments in nature projects have increased roughly five-fold over the last decade, reaching $14 billion in 2025.
Recent research shows institutional investors are backing a broader range of nature investments as the market matures.
Four investment trends show how institutional investors’ approach to nature has evolved over the past decade.
A decade ago, $2.8 billion in private capital flowed into nature management and restoration projects annually, according to a 2016 benchmark report published by Forest Trends and The Nature Conservancy. These investments financed better management of working lands like forestry, agriculture and aquaculture, or the restoration of wildlands and natural habitat.

In 2025, that figure topped $14 billion – a roughly five-fold increase. That raw growth is good news for nature, but it’s actually the less interesting number compared to what the figures say about the nature of these investments.

During 2016-2020, sustainable agriculture accounted for 68% of all investment allocations to nature-based projects. By 2024–2025 it was 36%, according to the latest report from Forest Trends and The Nature Conservancy, which is a follow-up to the 2016 baseline study.

Agriculture didn’t shrink; its allocations kept growing. But the pie around it grew faster, driven by nature investment categories that were barely on the radar in 2016.

This diversification reflects four new bets that investors are now taking on nature:

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