Skip to main content
seedlings growing in an aquaponic system in a greenhouse.

Environmental Markets & Conservation Finance

The Conservation Innovations Team was established in 2016 in response to growing interest in environmental markets and conservation finance. NRCS’s work in these emerging areas complements, and in some ways is already integrated with, our traditional conservation planning and program implementation

Why is NRCS Involved?

NRCS’s annual budget provides substantial funding for conservation implementation on farms, ranches and forest lands, but much more can be accomplished on these lands with investable dollars flowing from private capital. The total potential for global conservation impact investment  offsite link image    has been estimated to be between 200 and 400 billion from 2016 to 2020. Both environmental markets and conservation finance offer opportunities to attract this private capital to working lands conservation, to complement and amplify NRCS’s work with private landowners.

As a Federal agency, NRCS can play a role in incubating and supporting the development of promising environmental markets and conservation finance approaches in their early stages, when entities looking for returns would be less likely to invest.

How We Work

NRCS supports the development of environmental markets and conservation finance approaches through its programs such as Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). NRCS also develops technical tools such as COMET that can help estimate the benefits of conservation efforts, providing the infrastructure to help make markets and new financial vehicles work. In addition, NRCS is leveraging its partnership building capacity to support networks such as the National Network on Water Quality Trading and the Conservation Finance Practitioners Roundtable, which develop communities of practice to support these emerging approaches. NRCS conservation finance and environmental markets work is carried out in partnership with organizations including:

NRCS conservation finance and environmental markets work is carried out in partnership with organizations.

Our Team

  • Kari Cohen, Adam Chambers, and Lindsay White
USDA-Employee Directory

Find Your Local Service Center

USDA Service Centers are locations where you can connect with Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Rural Development employees for your business needs. Enter your state and county below to find your local service center and agency offices. If this locator does not work in your browser, please visit offices.usda.gov.

NRCS and Partner Resources

External Resources

Related Resources

Education and Teaching Materials

Environmental Markets at NRCS

Environmental markets are an approach that can be used to help landowners get conservation on the ground. While NRCS has substantial funding to dedicate to private lands conservation, environmental markets complement NRCS’s work by bringing private and other non-Federal investments to private lands.

The Metrolina greenhouses operation has drastically cut its energy bills by replacing a natural gas heating system with a wood boiler, funded in part with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Finance at NRCS

Conservation finance is an emerging sector that seeks to find new financial vehicles and approaches to attract funding to conservation. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Housing Service (RUS) Administrator Tammye Treviño visit to South Dakota to co-chair a StrikeForce meeting in Sisseton, SD, attend a Housing Fair, and visit homes and facilities financed by USDA, Rural Development (RD) .