Awe for Nature Foundation
Implementing nature finance from the ground up.
Nature finance
Rue de la Cité 4, Genève, Switzerland
2024
Working at the intersection of global ambition and grounded delivery.
Awe for Nature Foundation is a non-profit advancing practical, scalable finance solutions for the long-term protection of critical ecosystems. We champion the intrinsic value of nature as a driver of economic resilience and benefit to both people and the planet.
We explore, validate, and implement high-integrity nature finance in real-world conservation settings. Through a 25-year commitment within Zimbabwe’s Protected Area Network, we are building sustainable models that protect biodiversity and contribute to local livelihoods.
Our work begins in Chewore South, a 200,000-hectare wilderness, where our on-the-ground partner, the Chewore Conservation Trust, manages the landscape under a 25-year collaborative management mandate with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. To undertake conservation at this scale, CCT is an incubation partner of African Parks, drawing on more than two decades of experience managing protected areas across Africa. African Parks provides operational and technical support to help ensure high standards of conservation, governance, and community engagement in Chewore South.
MISA Group and Mocoh are principal funders of our work.
200k
hectares under protection (Chewore South)
25
year management mandate
1
Wildlife refuge: rugged terrain, intact ecosystems, iconic species
STEWARDING IT TODAY
Leadership Spotlight
Aaron Murphy
Executive Director of Innovative Finance
Aaron leads Awe’s innovative finance strategy, working closely with government and international partners to channel investment into nature. His work is driven by a commitment to mobilising the resources needed to address the biodiversity crisis at scale.
Dr Niall McCann
Executive Director, Head of Conservation & Communications
Niall first visited Africa as a teenager and has dedicated much of his professional life to conservation in the Zambezi Valley. After completing his PhD he moved into frontline conservation, establishing projects across three continents with a focus on protected-area management and restoration, and now works at the nexus of innovative finance and conservation. He is also a National Geographic Explorer and award-winning wildlife presenter.
Michael Hacking
Founder & Executive Chairman
Michael’s love of Africa runs through both his business and philanthropic life. In 1998, he founded Mocoh and in 2017 he established the mc2h Foundation to boost early-years literacy in West Africa. Awe for Nature Foundation represents the continuation of that lifelong commitment: a desire to invest in impact initiatives across the continent and prove that nature, valued properly, can sustain both wild landscapes and the communities that steward them.
“I have always believed that conservation has to make sense on the ground. If we can create value from healthy ecosystems, we give both nature and communities a stronger future.”
Michael Hacking
Founder and Executive Chairman, Awe for Nature Foundation