Biodiversity conservation
F.R. de Chateaubriand
Current situation
The sixth great extinction of species (1000 to 10 000 times faster than during the last century) is unfolding inexorably before our eyes. Over the last 40 years, half of the world's animal species have been lost. The blame lies squarely with loss of plant and animal habitats, climate change, overharvesting of resources vulnerable to various forms of trafficking, and the introduction of invasive species. It is all happening very quickly. Ecosystems are being destabilized, and nature is under threat. But if we come to her aid, nature can still develop some astonishing resources.
Scope of the projects funded
In this focus sector, the Foundation funds terrestrial and marine biodiversity conservation projects (fauna and flora) that bring sustainable social, economic and environmental benefits, particularly for the poorest communities and that contribute to protecting threatened species.
The projects funded by the Foundation take the following factors into account:
1. protection and rehabilitation of particular ecosystems on the grounds of their rich biodiversity or other environmental or human significance (in the protection of particular species; as sources of non-timber products; to combat erosion or desertification; as water abstraction areas, etc.)
2. protection of animal and plant species, including combating poaching and trafficking
3. greenhouse gas mitigation and/or adaptation to climate change
4. other cross-cutting themes highlighted by the Foundation in its Selection Criteria, such as promoting entrepreneurship, a rights-based approach, innovation, scaling-up, a gender perspective, and sexual and reproductive health needs, particularly of women and girls.
Rewilding projects
Fondation Ensemble wishes, from 2021, to support rewilding projects. These projects aim to enable certain areas to return on their own to a ‘natural’ state, but also by sometimes reintroducing species that lived there before they were driven out by humans. For now, these projects have to be implemented in Europe.
For this topic, there is no requirement to take into account improvements of the human populations’ living conditions (notably on Sexual and Reproductive Health), even if the purpose is not to exclude them from the process, but on the opposite, involve them.
To find out more, see also the ARTE documentary (in French, available until 2/17/21) L’Europe à la conquête de la Biodiversité. (Trailer in English available here).
Endangered animal species small grant Fund
Since 2008, the Foundation's special fund for the conservation of endangered animal species has enabled numerous species in danger across the world to be protected. Find out all of these projects here.
Specific selection criteria and monitoring apply for this Fund. See here.
