At the end of 2023, we secured a groundbreaking subsidy from the DHI Subsidy Scheme of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) to help launch a Nature-based Solution (NbS) restoration project in Brazil. 

The project aimed to restore degraded pastureland by establishing sustainable tropical timber plantations alongside natural regeneration techniques, following NbS principles. By capturing carbon throughout the restoration process, the project was designed to generate verified carbon credits, meeting robust and widely used international certification standards for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM).

The Challenge:

Like many restoration initiatives in voluntary markets, the project faced a hindering funding gap at the early stage. Without initial financing, it could not launch pilot activities—an essential step to validate the business model, attract investors, and scale restoration efforts. This bottleneck is a major challenge for NbS projects, as few investors are willing to take on the high perceived risk of unproven models.

Our Approach:

To overcome this barrier, we conducted an analysis of early-stage funding opportunities. While private funding options proved limited due to high perceived risks and longer investment timelines, we identified governmental subsidies as a viable path forward, particularly through RVO’s programs for Dutch enterprises seeking to expand operations abroad. However, securing the DHI subsidy posed a unique challenge: it had never been awarded to an NbS project before. Securing this subsidy required more than just a strong project concept. It required navigating an unfamiliar funding landscape and reshaping perceptions. Public agencies often evaluate businesses based on clear commercial models with straightforward returns, whereas NbS projects involve longer timelines, nature-based revenue streams, and frequent certification cycles. 

The key hurdle was to bridge the knowledge gap and present the project in terms that aligned with RVO’s decision-making criteria. We needed to clearly articulate:

✔️ What an NbS project is and how it delivers tangible economic and environmental benefits.
✔️ How it contributes to Dutch entrepreneurship and international sustainability goals.
✔️ The role of verified carbon credits, land and credit ownership structures, extended financial timelines, and VCM certification requirements.

This required close engagement, targeted discussions, detailed justifications, and iterative refinements to align our proposal with RVO’s framework. 

Outcomes & Impact:

By translating the complexities of NbS into a language that resonated with policymakers, we successfully secured the subsidy, a first-of-its-kind approval for a restoration project within the program.

The funding was catalytic for the project’s success. It enabled crucial early-stage activities, including:

✅ Technical and operational planning to establish the foundations for large-scale restoration;
✅ Land screening and legal assessments to secure a suitable pilot site in order to test technical & operational approaches;
✅ Risk reduction for future investors by demonstrating technical feasibility and financial viability.

This project underscores the power of strategic communication in unlocking funding for nature-positive business models. Our deep expertise in natural capital, NbS, and voluntary markets, combined with our ability to bridge the gap between funding frameworks and innovative restoration models, played a pivotal role in achieving this unprecedented milestone. By securing the first-ever RVO subsidy for an NbS project, we not only enabled a scalable restoration initiative to take off but also set a precedent for future subsidies to support similar nature-based solutions; paving the way for more accessible early-stage financing in the restoration sector.