Darwin Initiative: £8 million in twenty-fifth funding round for international conservation projects

Friday, 10 May 2019 00:01

Thirty-two projects are to share £8.2 million in the latest round of funding from the Darwin Initiative UK government’s Darwin Initiative has funded more than 1,000 projects since 1992 Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey to visit Chester Zoo to see a current project to protect Andean ‘spectacled’ bears Wild tulips, food security and coastal and forest habitat conservation are at the heart of the 32...Request free trial

Thirty-two projects are to share £8.2 million in the latest round of funding from the Darwin Initiative
UK government’s Darwin Initiative has funded more than 1,000 projects since 1992
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey to visit Chester Zoo to see a current project to protect Andean ‘spectacled’ bears

Wild tulips, food security and coastal and forest habitat conservation are at the heart of the 32 new international conservation projects set to be awarded a share of £8.2 million from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative.

Recent reports on international nature have put the issue of species loss high on the nation’s agenda. Last week, the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report showed nearly a million species are in danger of extinction and the Darwin Initiative is part of the UK government’s response to this emerging issue.

This latest round of funding, the 25^th since the birth of the Darwin Initiative in 1992, is putting an emphasis on nature and health and providing security of food supply to rural communities in some of the most remote parts of the globe.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey will hear more about on-going Darwin-backed projects led by Chester Zoo when she visits and meets the team in Cheshire today (10 May).

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:

“Nature matters, and the Darwin Initiative continues to support hundreds of projects that restore and enhance wildlife and nature.

“These schemes are helping nature and our wider environment, delivering clean air and water, sustainable food supplies, and recovery and resilience to natural disasters.

“That is why I am delighted to announce another £8 million of funding for these crucial projects. Our government is taking action at home and abroad to ensure we are the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it.”

Twenty-fifth round

The Darwin Initiative is a grants scheme that helps to protect nature and the natural environment around the globe.

Many of the applications reflect the UK government’s 25 Year Environment Plan commitments to protect the marine environment, to secure the benefits of biodiversity for the poorest communities, and to help prevent the extinction of species. The 25^th round of funding comes during the government’s Year of Green Action, a year-long drive to help people to connect with, protect and enhance nature.

Projects supported by the Darwin Initiative are illustrative of a ‘win-win’ approach, encouraging sustainable livelihoods whilst conserving some of the world’s iconic and endangered species and landscapes, which benefits us all.

The projects set to benefit from the 25^th round of funding include:

Fauna & Flora International’s project to secure the future and resilience of wild tulips and pastoral communities in the Kyrgyzstan mountains, which are vital to local community livelihoods
ZSL’s work in Nepal on a project called ‘Ghodaghodi’s Guardians: Communities restoring a Ramsar wetland at watershed scale’ to increase well-being and water security whilst protecting biodiversity
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s project ‘Know your onions: sustainable plant use in Tajikistan’, leading to increased income, access to locally grown produce and increased capacity to cultivate produce
The World Vegetable Center’s project ‘Traditional African vegetables strengthen food and nutrition security in Madagascar’, to secure benefits of agro-biodiversity for poor farmer households
And WWT’s project ‘Enhancing wetland resilience for improved biodiversity and livelihoods in Cambodia’ will work in internationally important Lower Mekong Delta to promote sustainable livelihoods and restore wildlife habitat.

Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo has been a leading partner on five Darwin Initiative projects since 2007 and Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey will visit later today for an update on their most recent project working with Andean ‘spectacled’ bears in South America.

Speaking about Chester Zoo’s projects, Minister Coffey said:

“Chester Zoo is a leading conservation organisation and has demonstrated how to achieve successful outcomes for nature around the globe by making excellent use of the Darwin Initiative funding.”

Dr Mark Pilgrim, Chief Executive Officer at Chester Zoo, said:

“One million species are at risk of extinction. But Darwin Initiative funding has been vital in helping us to tackle human wildlife conflict worldwide - working side by side with local communities, protecting bears in Bolivia, elephants in India and tigers in Nepal. Conservation projects like these are urgent and critical. Our planet depends on them.”

For over 10 years Chester Zoo’s Assam Haathi Project has been working to reduce human-elephant conflict. Conflict between elephants and people is a challenge in Assam and is unsustainable for both the survival of the elephants and the livelihoods of the local people.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Darwin Initiative

The Darwin Initiative is a grants scheme that helps to protect biodiversity and the natural environment around the globe. Many of the applications reflect the UK Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan commitments to protect the marine environment, to secure the benefits of biodiversity for the poorest communities, and to help prevent the extinction of species.

Since 1992, the Darwin Initiative has funded 1,155 projects from 159 countries, with a value of £161m.

About Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo (www.chesterzoo.org) is a registered conservation and education charity that supports projects around the world and closer to home in Cheshire. Welcoming 1.9 million visitors a year, it is the most visited zoo in the UK; home to over 27,000 animals and more than 500 different species, many of which are endangered in the wild
Chester Zoo is the country’s most visited tourist attraction outside London, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA)
Through its wildlife conservation campaign, Act for Wildlife, the zoo is helping to save highly threatened species around the world from extinction.
www.facebook.com/chesterzoo1
@chesterzoo

Background on Chester Zoo Darwin Initiative projects:

2007: Building capacities for mitigating human-elephant conflict in Assam (£179,750.00)
2009: Securing human-elephant coexistence in Sumatra (£285,350.00)
2010: Assam Haathi Project (£150,000.00)
2016: Living with Tigers in Nepal: poverty reduction for human-wildlife coexistence (£189,000.00)
2018: Andean bears and people: coexistence through poverty reduction (£266,625.00)
Chester Zoo with Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) Oxford University.

Year of Green Action

2019 marks the Year of Green Action, a year-long drive to help people to connect with, protect and enhance nature
The Year is a commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to instil a legacy for the future, with a focus on children and young people