Advancing Urban Ecosystem Recovery and Adaptation
Seneca is exploring new opportunities to support nature in and around cities. While our work has focused on wetland areas and buffer zones near urban environments, we have not yet operated directly within city boundaries. Still, our experience financing nature-based solutions in fragmented and high-pressure landscapes gives us a strong foundation to contribute meaningfully to urban ecosystem recovery.
We are interested in practical, financeable models that restore ecological function and unlock commercial potential in urban settings. This includes sponge city strategies, urban edge zones, and reconnecting fragmented natural areas. We prioritize approaches with clear financial viability, including cost avoidance and revenue-generating project structures.
Globally, urban nature-based solutions remain underfunded and underdeveloped. Less than 0.3 percent of urban infrastructure spending currently supports nature-positive interventions, and private capital is largely absent from the space. Many projects lack standardized valuation frameworks, scalable delivery models, or enabling policy environments. Seneca aims to engage where nature recovery can be structured as investable, not ornamental, and where ecological integrity can be restored at meaningful scale.
We welcome collaboration with partners advancing scalable, investment-ready initiatives that align urban ecosystem recovery with biodiversity and climate resilience.
Sponge Cities
We engage with nature-based approaches to managing water in urban areas, such as rain gardens, shallow wetlands, and absorbent landscaping. These systems reduce flood risk, retain water where it is needed, and restore natural balance. We focus on modular and replicable models with clear commercial potential, including cost savings and revenue-generating structures. Sponge city strategies are increasingly recognized as scalable climate adaptation tools, especially in flood-prone regions.
Urban Edge Ecosystems
We support work in areas like mangrove fringes, wetland edges, and hillside forests. These zones near cities are often overlooked but ecologically valuable. They offer strong returns for targeted conservation finance and can be replicated across regions. Urban edge ecosystems also serve as buffers against development pressure and climate impacts, making them suitable for blended capital structures.
We are increasingly interested in exploring data center projects located in transitional zones, where nature-based mitigation or restoration is part of the design. While not inherently nature-positive, these assets often intersect with land use, biodiversity, and water systems. If a project includes ecological buffers, reforestation, or biodiversity corridors and demonstrates commercial viability, it may be considered for engagement under this theme. We are particularly interested in models that incorporate nature-based strategies and can be valued through cost avoidance or biodiversity metrics. This work supports emerging disclosure frameworks such as TNFD and helps unlock nature-compatible infrastructure pathways for private capital.
Ecological Connectivity
We engage with initiatives that reconnect natural areas across urban spaces to help wildlife move and ecosystems recover. These corridors can be linked to biodiversity finance and conservation strategies, and scaled through planning overlays or regional partnerships. Connectivity is increasingly seen as essential to urban resilience and biodiversity outcomes, especially when integrated into zoning and infrastructure planning.
