The Helsinki Foundation – what is it?
The Helsinki Foundation is a non-profit foundation established for the purpose of promoting the conservation of nature and the environment in Finland and in other countries. The Foundation was established in 2015 after growing concerns about the increasing footprint of man upon the world and the need to think long-term about land conservation. The Helsinki Foundation can be considered as a social enterprise through its activities.

What does the Foundation believe in?
Helsinki Foundation believes that the best way to preserve nature for future generations is to acquire as much land as possible and leave it in its natural state.  This represents a paradigm shift in thinking about conservation as the efforts are not carried out with taxpayer money – but yet collectively taken care of. For this the Foundation has set up the Guardianship Programme, which enables interested citizens to to bind land legally for conservation.

How does the Foundation conserve land?
Firstly, the Foundation identifies ecologically significant land by working with conservation groups, corporations and private landowners. Secondly, the Foundation acquires the land through direct purchase or donation for conservation. Next the Foundation overlays the land with a virtual subdivision dividing the land into unique lots. After this the Foundation sells “Guardianship rights” of each lot to members of the public. Every Guardian has a veto right over changing the use of the land, thus the Guardians then effectively control the land to ensure its conservation. Finally, the Foundation leaves the land alone.

Read more @ https://www.helsinkifoundation.org/how_it_works