Tyler Kohler and Aaron Penalba weigh support for natural parks in French-speaking Switzerland and France

The leaders of KDB & Associés and KP Conseil are exploring funding for nature protection projects on both sides of the French-Swiss border. The initiative is still being shaped, but it signals a broader environmental turn among younger entrepreneurs in the region.

Why it matters: - Tyler Kohler and Aaron Penalba are considering directing part of their investments toward protecting natural spaces in French-speaking Switzerland and France. - The plan could support parks, forests and protected areas in a region facing tourism pressure, climate impacts on forests and glaciers, and habitat fragmentation. - The effort would extend their business footprint into environmental preservation in the same cross-border territory where they already operate.

What happened: - Tyler Kohler and Aaron Penalba, the associates behind KDB & Associés and KP Conseil, said they are studying several options for funding nature protection projects across the Franco-Swiss border. - The project remains at the reflection stage, with no sites, funding amounts or partner organizations decided yet. - KDB & Associés is based in Lausanne. - The announcement was made in Lausanne on October 22, 2026.

The details: - Kohler said the team does not want to announce a project before it is seriously built out. - Kohler said the first step is to understand the real needs on the ground and then choose projects where their contribution can have a concrete effect. - KP Conseil works with companies in French-speaking Switzerland and France on diagnosis, action plans and implementation. - Penalba said the environmental approach should mirror that method: listen to the people who manage the sites, identify needs and act where it is useful. - The target area is not accidental. French-speaking Switzerland and France are the same regions where KP Conseil does business. - Tyler Kohler co-founded KDB & Associés after an early career in Swiss insurance and later launched KP Conseil with Penalba. - Kohler said his thinking is shaped by long-term risks, not just economic performance. - Kohler compared ecosystems to reputations, saying both can take years to build and be damaged quickly. - Penalba is Head of Client Advisory at KDB & Associés and an associate at KP Conseil. - Penalba said the people already working in the field — guards, associations and municipalities — know what these spaces need.

Between the lines: - The initiative appears designed to avoid a top-down charity model and instead follow the same diagnostic approach the two entrepreneurs use in business consulting. - The cross-border framing suggests the project is as much about regional identity and local presence as it is about conservation. - The comments also position Kohler and Penalba as part of a younger entrepreneurial cohort that sees environmental stewardship as part of business leadership.

What's next: - Kohler and Penalba plan to keep refining the project before making a more detailed public announcement. - They said they will communicate more once the initiative is structured. - For now, the two men are continuing discussions to define the framework for action. - Kohler said they prefer to move slowly and do things correctly.