Faya Foundation

🌳 Conservation usually shows up as a cost. On Príncipe it shows up as income. The people protecting the island's biodiversity are doing a job and the Natural Dividend pays them for it. August's payment came to around €194.000 or roughly 1% of Príncipe's annual GDP. This is a three year pilot backed by fifteen million euros and you can watch it unfold as we share what the model does next. Follow us to see where it goes. #naturaldividend #principe #fayafoundation

🌳 Most conservation funding is spent on stopping things from happening. On Príncipe the Natural Dividend is built the other way round. Payment is tied to the measured condition of the natural systems around the people who protect them. Monitoring data establishes whether that condition held so the money follows the result rather than the intention. It runs as a three year pilot backed by fifteen million euros. The second payment has now landed. The share it represents is the number we think is worth arguing about. Follow us here to see where the model goes next. #naturaldividend #principe #fayafoundation

Paying people to protect a forest sounds like charity until you look at who is doing the work. On Príncipe biodiversity is held by the people who live alongside them. The Natural Dividend treats that as work and pays for it. It runs as a three year pilot backed by fifteen million euros. FAYA's purpose is to promote Nature preservation using innovation to give back a Natural Dividend and create a future where people and planet thrive as one. Follow us here to see where the model goes next. #naturaldividend #principe #fayafoundation

A FAYA está a recrutar um/a Técnico/a de Ambiente de nível intermédio, para trabalhar na Ilha do Príncipe, com uma forte componente de terreno, para integrar a nossa equipa de ambiente. As funções incluem a realização de levantamentos ecológicos, a monitorização da fauna e da flora, a avaliação de parcelas rurais para projetos individuais de biodiversidade, bem como o tratamento e análise dos dados resultantes deste trabalho. O trabalho da FAYA na área de dados acaba de ser reconhecido com o Prémio Esri Special Achievement in GIS 2026. Procuramos alguém fluente em português, com pelo menos dois anos de experiência na área da conservação e com disponibilidade para permanecer na ilha, no mínimo, 250 dias por ano.

We are often asked why a Natural Dividend is paid, and what we continue to learn on Príncipe is that conservation becomes more durable when the people who protect nature are recognised as central to its care. Linking biodiversity protection with community well being helps build trust, clarity, and shared responsibility over time, rather than treating conservation as something separate from daily life.

Our new headquarters in Santo António represent a long term commitment to being present, accountable, and connected to the realities of life on Príncipe. Building conservation that lasts requires staying close to people and place, and this space supports the work as it continues to evolve through listening, collaboration, and care.