Conservation real estate specialist Shawn Smith and her malamutes on land in southern Vermont that is slated for conservation.

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As interest in easements has grown, an entire green real estate industry has emerged. Specialists like Earth Asset Partnership’s Shawn Smith (above), who was trained as an appraiser, have built real estate consultancies designed to help conservation buyers find and preserve properties. These new types of real estate advisers can work with clients to get the best deal on a property, but they also can tell them about the rare species of plants and animals they will be saving. “We deal in very high-end properties,” Smith says. “It’s a specialized skill in understanding how to do a conservation valuation and real estate deal.”

Going one step further, other green entrepreneurs have set up funds that provide the money needed to buy land to preserve and sell back to buyers. The Sustainable Land Fund, for example, is based near Baltimore and was created by a group of finance, business, real estate and conservation leaders. It raises private capital and uses the money on projects to conserve and restore ecosystems. But the fund will not be charity—it intends to make money for its investors, such as by raising the value of properties it buys, restores and sells.

The Sustainable Land Fund already has competitors. The Environmental Bank and Exchange, also based near Baltimore, helps provide advice and capital for projects that protect open space while also making financial sense. Even bigger financial organizations, like Goldman Sachs, are getting into the action, evaluating how they can invest in projects designed to preserve land and water quality.