---
title: how to invest in nature-based solutions
canonical_url: https://ensurance.app/guide/how-to-invest-in-nature-based-solutions
markdown_url: https://ensurance.app/guide/how-to-invest-in-nature-based-solutions.md
subtitle: "the allocator's playbook for putting capital into NBS — with a real claim and real yield"
category: how-to
---

# how to invest in nature-based solutions

*the allocator's playbook for putting capital into NBS — with a real claim and real yield*

Nature-based solutions are in every mandate and almost no portfolios. Ask an allocator how to actually get exposure and the honest answer is a shrug: grants return nothing, carbon credits keep collapsing on quality, and project funds lock capital for a decade with no secondary market. The demand is real; the investable vehicle has been missing.

**To invest in nature-based solutions with a real claim and real yield, you buy ensurance certificates — tied 1:1 to specific natural assets, priced on cost and backed by ecosystem-service value — or coins for liquid, protocol-wide exposure.** The return comes from the gap between what nature is worth and what it costs, the uplift as condition improves, and proceeds distributed to holders.

This is the allocator's how-to. For the conceptual case, see [investing in natural capital](/guide/investing-in-natural-capital?from=guide); for the direct companion, [how to make money with ensurance](/guide/how-to-make-money-with-ensurance?from=guide).

## why NBS has been hard to invest in

The problem was never the underlying — restored watersheds, protected forests, and rebuilt soils produce enormous value. The problem is that the value carried no priced, ownable claim, so capital had only three doors, each flawed:

| existing door | the flaw |
|---------------|----------|
| **grants / philanthropy** | no return, no liquidity, no compounding — pure outflow |
| **carbon & offset credits** | single-service, quality-questioned, price-volatile; one molecule of a whole system |
| **project / fund finance** | 7–10 year lockups, high minimums, no secondary exit |

Ensurance adds a fourth: a **priced, tradeable claim on the whole living system**, not one disaggregated service. That's what makes NBS allocatable the way real estate or infrastructure is.

:::johnson
**nature-based solutions become investable the moment the value carries a claim.** certificates are that claim — priced on cost, backed by what the ecosystem produces.

[see the instruments →](/specific?from=guide)
:::

## the vehicles

Three ways to hold NBS exposure, from most direct to most liquid:

| vehicle | what it is | best for |
|---------|-----------|----------|
| **[certificates](/specific?from=guide) (policies)** | tied 1:1 to a titled natural asset; fixed supply; priced on cost, backed by ecosystem-service value (ESV) | direct, asset-backed exposure with uplift as condition improves |
| **[certificates](/specific?from=guide) (lines)** | tied to a place, group, or purpose without a single titleholder; condition-responsive pricing | thematic exposure — a watershed, a species, a cause |
| **[coins](/general?from=guide)** | fungible, protocol-wide, liquid | easy entry, diversified exposure, trade in and out on the [markets](/markets?from=guide) |

A **policy** is the asset-backed instrument: every certificate is issued as "$1 of ecosystem-service value" and priced at what the land cost to protect — so if a place produces $1M of value on a $300k cost basis, you're buying $1.00 of backing for about $0.30. A **line** is fluid coverage priced on condition, useful where no single owner can be titled — a whole watershed, a migratory species, a restoration mandate.

## where the return comes from

Three independent sources, and an engine underneath them.

**1. The value gap (entry discount).** The **natural cap rate** — a place's annual ecosystem-service value divided by its cost — runs 131–766% on measured parcels. Certificates priced on cost but backed by value carry that gap as embedded upside from day one:

| example asset | price (cost) | face (value) | embedded upside |
|---------------|-------------|--------------|-----------------|
| coastal estuary | $0.76 | $1.00 | 1.3× |
| highland forest | $0.35 | $1.00 | 2.8× |
| forested wetland | $0.21 | $1.00 | 4.8× |
| beaver riparian | $0.13 | $1.00 | 7.6× |

**2. Ecological uplift.** Because a policy's supply is fixed, restoration and protection that raise the ecosystem-service value concentrate in the certificates that already exist — the backing per certificate grows with the condition of the land.

**3. Distributions.** Ensurance is a **member-owned protocol**: holding a certificate makes you a member, and proceeds from activity across the system flow back to holders pro-rata — as cash, additional shares, or targeted patterns.

**The engine — a two-sided market.** Under all three sits the reason the model funds itself: the beneficiaries who depend on the restored function (a water utility, an insurer, a downstream operator, a city) pay premiums to reduce their risk. Those premiums are the yield that pays the capital side. You're not betting on speculative demand — you're financing an asset whose customers are the parties that can't afford to let it fail.

## how to allocate

1. **Pick your exposure.** Asset-backed and specific → policies. Thematic or systemic → lines or a basket of coins. Most allocators start with a small coin position for liquidity and add certificates for the backed upside.
2. **Assess before you size.** Every natural asset carries a [RealValue](/natural-capital?from=guide) valuation — ESV, cost basis, and the resulting cap rate. Read the entry ratio (value ÷ cost) the way you'd read a cap rate on a building.
3. **Enter.** Buy on the [markets](/markets?from=guide), or for institutional tickets and structured allocations, [work with our team](/contact?from=guide&topic=invest) on sizing and custody.
4. **Hold and monitor.** Certificates pay through holding — track condition (MRV) and distributions the way you'd track NOI and coupons. Exit via secondary markets or the protocol exchange when you need liquidity.

## risks and honest limits

This is an emerging asset class, and a serious allocator should treat it like one:

- **Liquidity is early.** Secondary markets and the exchange pool are live but thinner than public markets — size positions accordingly.
- **Outcomes depend on verification.** Returns tied to ecological uplift are only as good as the MRV behind them; independent, two-directional monitoring is the safeguard, and it's still maturing.
- **Instrument choice matters.** Policies are asset-backed; lines appreciate only when the protocol moves a condition-responsive price — a governance commitment that should be disclosed, not assumed.

None of these are reasons to sit out; they're reasons to start with a measured allocation and scale as the market deepens. Early, disciplined capital is exactly what compounds here.

## frequently asked questions

### what exactly am I buying?

A certificate is a claim on a specific natural asset (a policy) or a place/purpose (a line), backed by the value that asset produces. A coin is fungible, protocol-wide exposure. Both are held in a wallet and trade onchain.

### how is this different from carbon credits?

A carbon credit monetizes one service and collapses if that one market weakens. An ensurance certificate represents the *whole* ecosystem and all its services bundled as one instrument — so it doesn't rise or fall on a single disaggregated output. Bundling diversifies the risk that credits concentrate.

### is there yield, or just appreciation?

Both. Appreciation comes from the entry discount and ecological uplift; yield comes from distributions funded by protocol activity — and, for policies tied to a titled asset, premiums paid by the beneficiaries. The mix depends on the instrument and the asset.

### can an institution hold this?

Yes. Coins and certificates have emerging GAAP treatment (fair value or real-asset/intangible depending on backing), and institutions from BlackRock to the World Bank are already moving assets onchain. For mandates, custody, and reporting, [talk to our team](/contact?from=guide&topic=invest).

## next steps

- **explore the instruments** — [certificates](/specific?from=guide) tied to real places, or [coins](/general?from=guide) for liquid exposure.
- **read the asset** — see how a natural asset is valued before you allocate → [natural capital](/natural-capital?from=guide).
- **structure an allocation** — for institutional tickets, custody, and reporting, [start a conversation](/contact?from=guide&topic=invest).
- **bring it to your committee** — if you sit on an investment committee or advise allocators, forward this. NBS exposure with a real claim is worth an agenda slot.

## sources

BASIN RealValue — natural cap rate methodology (ecosystem service value ÷ real asset cost), measured on operating parcels

[TNFD](https://tnfd.global/) — nature-related financial disclosure; the scale of nature dependency and the funding gap

[The Dasgupta Review](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review) — the economics of biodiversity and nature as an asset