PROOF OVER PROMISES
Natural State is an international NGO headquartered in northern Kenya, built to make restoration work at scale. We train restoration leaders through the African Centre for Nature Restoration and Resilience, then equip them with technology and on-the-ground data to measure what is actually changing in biodiversity, carbon, water, and human wellbeing. That proof turns good intentions into investable outcomes, helping unlock nature finance opportunities that can fund what works and make restoration sustainable over the long term.
Challenge
Preserving natural habitats is crucial for our survival and that of the planet’s 10 million other species. We have already degraded 75% of the world’s natural ecosystems, and if current trends continue, this could rise to 95% by 2050. To avoid the greatest climate and extinction crises in human history, we must halt habitat destruction and rapidly accelerate restoration and rewilding globally.
But restoration doesn’t scale without three essentials - especially in the Global South:
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Baseline data and credible monitoring (to prove success or failure)
Sustainable funding (beyond grants alone)
Training and opportunities for local nature custodians (to lead and deliver work on the ground)
SOLUTIONS
Learning & Leadership
Restoration only scales if local leaders have the skills, tools, and support to deliver high-quality projects, so Natural State is building the African Centre for Nature Restoration & Resilience (ACNRR) and an Indigenous & Community Solutions Hub to train and back restoration practitioners with practical learning in restoration best practice, leadership, project design and delivery, impact monitoring and restoration technology, and how to build enterprises and access finance, while also creating a home for Indigenous and community knowledge-sharing that strengthens locally led, culturally grounded solutions.
Nature Financing
Restoration can’t scale on grants alone, so Natural State develops and pilots finance mechanisms that pay for verified outcomes, using uKweli’s transparent data to build trust and unlock larger, longer-term funding flows to restoration and local custodians through two main pathways - Nature Credits (supporting and strengthening standards and methodologies like Plan Vivo and Social Carbon, and integrating biodiversity and human wellbeing into crediting pathways) and Impact Bonds (pay-for-success models that link investor returns to measurable conservation outcomes, including pilots focused on human-lion coexistence and reducing whale entanglement).
Research & Monitoring
Nature finance and credible restoration both depend on trusted measurement, so Natural State develops robust, cost-effective, transparent impact monitoring systems that track outcomes across biodiversity, carbon, water, and human wellbeing by combining ground data with tools like satellites, sensors, and machine learning, then moving field data securely through Kutuma (field-to-cloud) into uKweli (our impact monitoring portal) to produce auditable, decision-ready insights that help communities, project teams, investors, and auditors see what’s working, what isn’t, and why.
Getting to Scale
We are currently testing our Impact Monitoring Platform, uKweli, in Savannah systems. As we prove what works through trusted monitoring, we can pair that evidence with nature finance mechanisms that fund verified outcomes. In parallel, we expand education and leadership through the African Centre for Nature Restoration and Resilience so more practitioners have the skills to deliver restoration well.
Once this model is proven, we will scale it into new biomes, including forests, drylands, wetlands, mangroves, and seagrass, and apply it to support the transition to regenerative agriculture.
Our Values
We exist to close the gap between big restoration promises and real-world results. Our values keep us focused on local leadership, credible proof, and finance that rewards what works.
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Local leadership and African-led solutions:
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We invest in the people closest to the land and support long-term local ownership.
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Proof over promises:
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We measure outcomes transparently so communities, partners, and funders can see what is changing and why.
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People and nature together:
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We track biodiversity, carbon, water, and human well-being because restoration must benefit ecosystems and communities.
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Collaboration and shared learning:
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We work with partners and share knowledge to strengthen the wider restoration sector.
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Equity and access:
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We prioritise women, youth, and Indigenous and local communities through our Nuru Scholarship program, which supports emerging restoration leaders with training, mentorship, and education support.
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