Learn the basics of conservation economics from the experts themselves.

Designed by Conservation Strategy Fund with the support of the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States through the BIOPAMA Programme

This course will cover fundamental economic and finance tools for successful conservation strategies across Africa. This course will provide BIOPAMA grantees with the knowledge and tools to become effective leaders on Protected Areas systems economics and finance. By enabling conservationists to use economic tools to show the value of nature and communicate the true costs and benefits of human activities and development projects, we can help countries and communities to make smarter development decisions that support nature conservation and improve human well-being. This course will begin on September 23rd and run until October 18, 2024.
  • World-Class Teaching

    This course combines recorded lectures on fundamental concepts with case studies and live discussions that illustrate practical applications of economics and finance in real-world scenarios. Our instructors are experts in their fields and have experience applying these tools to over 40 countries worldwide.

  • 6 Hours per Week

    Participants should expect to commit about six hours per week to the course, which includes three hours of assigned pre-recorded lectures and readings and three hours of live instruction over Zoom. Live sessions are scheduled from 15:00-16:30 Central African Time every Tuesday and Thursday.

  • Practical Tools for Conservation Work

    Participants will leave this course with an understanding of how economics can be used to benefit their work in nature-based tourism, including toolkit of approaches and techniques to apply directly to their conservation work around Africa.

Meet Your Course Instructors

Training Program Director, Conservation Strategy Fund Natalia Sanin-Acevedo

A native of Colombia, Natalia studied biology in her homeland, Medellin, and holds a master's in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge in the UK. Natalia has been part of CSF since 2011, supporting various training and research programs worldwide, including creating CSF's Numbers for Nature Training Institute. Natalia is a dynamic and seasoned conservation leader with over a decade of experience driving impactful capacity-building initiatives worldwide. She brings a wealth of expertise in participatory research, knowledge exchange, and training program development. Natalia has proven experience designing and implementing in-person and virtual learning programs and strong project management skills, including setting goals, developing work plans, and monitoring progress toward objectives. She has excellent communication and facilitation skills, and the ability to engage diverse audiences and foster collaboration among participants.

David Johnson

David is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Prior to moving to UWM, he taught Microeconomics and Macroeconomic analysis at Wellesley College, Harvard University and Stanford University. He has received wide recognition for his teaching talent and animated style, and strives to make his courses interesting, important and relevant. David has been teaching in CSF courses since 2004.

Hugo van Zyl

Hugo Van Zyl holds a PhD in economics and has 25 years’ experience as a consultant in environmental economics, biodiversity conservation finance and socio-economic impact assessment. He has conducted over 70 economic and socio-economic appraisals of complex infrastructure, industrial, residential, mixed use, mining, energy, tourism and conservation projects in order to inform decision-making. In the process, he has built deep experience in techniques such as cost-benefit analysis. He has conducted, co-ordinated and published research in ecosystem services assessment and valuation, biodiversity finance and offsets, payments for ecosystem services, environmental policy reform, strategic assessment and protected area financing. His contributions to policy process have been relatively wide ranging and have included economic inputs and guidance to national water tariff, air pollution, biodiversity conservation and finance, biofuels, mine closure funding and climate change policy. Country experience includes South Africa, Namibia, Ethiopia, Botswana, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles, Uganda, Comoros, Nigeria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Armenia.

Marcello Hernández-Blanco

Doctor en Economía Ecológica de la Universidad Nacional Australiana, máster en ciencias en Biodiversidad, Vida Silvestre y Salud de los Ecosistemas de la Universidad de Edimburgo, máster en Gestión Ambiental de la Universidad Interamericana de Costa Rica, Ingeniero Industrial graduado de la Universidad Latina de Costa Rica. Autor líder de varios informes de la Plataforma Intergubernamental de Biodiversidad y Servicios Ecosistémicos (IPBES). Miembro del grupo temático de servicios ecosistémicos de la Comisión de Manejo de Ecosistemas de la UICN. Miembro del comité directivo global y presidente en Costa Rica del Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP). Profesor universitario con más de 10 años de experiencia.

David Meyers

David is an environmental finance expert and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the field. He is currently the Executive Director of the Conservation Finance Alliance. From 2012-2018, David was a Senior Technical Advisor for the BIOFIN/UNDP project. David spent well over a decade in Madagascar and helped the country plan and execute a doubling of the area under conservation. He holds a PhD in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Get a head start: Watch our free Environmental Valuation video series!

Thank you to our partners:

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About BIOPAMA

The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme aims to improve the long-term conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, in protected areas and surrounding communities. It is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States financed by the European Union’s 11th European Development Fund (EDF), jointly implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC). Building on the first five years of activities financed by the 10th EDF (2012-2017), BIOPAMA’s second phase provides tools for data and information management, services for improving the knowledge and capacity for protected area planning and decision-making, and funding opportunities for specific site-based actions. www.biopama.org