The conservation community has an important role to play in influencing business to safeguard people and nature and promote Nature-based Solutions. As IUCN’s Business Engagement Strategy states: business can be engaged directly, such as through joint landscape action plans, or indirectly, for example, by mobilising public policy to facilitate more sustainable practices.

From 2017-2021, IUCN’s BioBiz Exchange created a global network of civil society organisations (CSOs) that were inspired to learn from business engagement experiences with the aim of enhancing the biodiversity practices of businesses operating in critically-important landscapes. 

Funded by the Agence Francaise de Développment (AFD), BioBiz Exchange in particular focused on providing support to CSOs in West and Central Africa. It builds on successful links to the Shared Resources, Joint Solutions programme, which was funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Related case studies can be found on PANORAMA Solutions for a  Healthy Planet platform, under the Business Engagement community.