Munich, London, Nanyuki, 5th November 2026
A community-managed conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, has sold the world’s first Nature Stocks to an international corporate investor. For the first time, this payment is neither a donation nor an expenditure but an investment into the condition of the natural system. The return is coming as positive impact and financial income for proven health of nature - paid by eco-tourism.
On 3 November 2026, Male Conservancy sold the first stocks, each corresponding to one hectare of its 2500-hectare landscape. An independent registrar, The Landbanking Group, recorded the sale under a Nature Stock Participation governed by German law. (Fun fact: the German word ‘Genussschein’ translates to a certificate of relishing and beneficial use.)
The proceeds will fund rangeland restoration and wildlife protection. The outcomes are monitored and documented. Positive results trigger payments by the eco-tourism and the return for the investment.
Nature, the asset investment committees could not buy
Every investment committee has heard the pitch for an allocation to nature, yet capital still flows the other way: in 2023, $7.3tn went into activities that harm nature, more than 30 times the $220bn invested in nature-based solutions (UN Environment Programme).
The constraint has been supply, not appetite: there has been nothing to invest in. Investors have had three ways to fund nature; only land purchase leaves them holding an asset:
- Give. Grants, donations and payments for services. The money works while it flows, and nothing is held afterwards.
- Lend. Debt-for-nature swaps, blue bonds and blended funds. The return comes from the borrower’s credit, not from the ecosystem.
- Buy the land. Capital-intensive, and many of the most intact landscapes are managed by communities with no deed to sell.
Giving and lending fund nature as a cost. Land is an asset, but its price reflects title and alternative use, not ecological condition. A Nature Stock is an asset whose value rises as that condition improves, while the land stays with the people who manage it.
“Finally, the investor benefits when nature thrives, not when it is depleted. Stewardship leads to returns. And nature is recognised wealth.” - Sonja Stuchtey, co-founder, The Landbanking Group
How a Nature Stock works
A Nature Stock ‘Genussschein’ works like a royalty or a participation right, and legally it is a participation right: structured here as a quasi-equity instrument with no fixed coupon or maturity. The investor provides capital upfront; the land steward keeps ownership and operations. Each stock corresponds to one hectare and carries three entitlements:
- Impact. The exclusive claim to the measured ecological condition.
- Income. A pro-rata share of the net proceeds whenever the ecological condition of the issuance area earns money.
- Capital value. The stocks are transferable and recorded on a registry, so a holder can sell to another investor at a price that reflects the land’s condition and expected income, and that can rise as condition improves.
Condition in this issuance is measured with the Ecosystem Integrity Index (EII), which scores land from 0 to 1 against a natural reference across function, structure and composition, using satellite and plot-level data. The method is openly published; the issuer pays for the measurement, and it can be audited.
Income arises only when someone pays for what the land does, which depends on its condition being maintained or improved: carbon and biodiversity credits, payments for water security and lower flood or drought risk, corporate nature claims and insetting, wildlife tourism, rangeland livestock premiums and results-based public or donor payments. If condition declines, so do the income and the value of the stock.
Easier for communities to receive investment
Investment in nature projects is commonly structured as project finance, which requires contracted revenue, such as offtake agreements or pre-sold credits, before capital is committed. Few community-managed landscapes can provide that. A Nature Stock does not: the issuer promises no fixed payment, has no debt to service and forms no new company. It needs a stewardship mandate, not a title deed: the lawful standing to manage the land, commission its measurement and answer for the results. The investor carries the performance risk and prices it.
The community keeps the land
“For years we were told our land had value but no instrument. Now the conservancy issues the instrument, keeps the land, and shares its upside with a partner who wants it to improve as much as we do.” – [Edward Hough, MD, Male Conservancy Management Ltd.]
“We bought Nature Stocks because this investment allows us to contribute positive impact and get a return on top. That is an asset we can account for.” - [Purchaser, name and title, subject to consent]
[Further tranches from Male Conservancy / additional issuers.] Further issuances are in preparation in Suriname (253,000 hectares, with the Trio and Kwinti peoples) and Namibia (35,000 hectares at Ohorongo).
Notes to editors
- About The Landbanking Group: founded in Munich in 2022, The Landbanking Group is building the infrastructure for the nature economy. It helps enterprises, governments and land stewards act on nature-related risks and opportunities.
- About Male Conservancy: [location, size, members, governance, year established]
- Registrar: [name, role]
- Ecological Performance in Capital Markets, technical white paper, The Landbanking Group, January 2026. [link]
- Leutner, B. (2025), “The Ecosystem Integrity Index: a comprehensive, globally applicable, and unified metric for ecosystem health”, technical white paper, The Landbanking Group. [link]
- Martin R. Stuchtey, “Too Big to Bail. A Playbook for Recapitalising the Living World”, oekom, 3 December 2026. [link]