Our Global Family: The Conservation Collective Network
The Conservation Collective (CC) is a network of local foundations who fund grass-roots conservation initiatives to protect the environment, restore nature and safeguard against climate change.
There are 16 organizations worldwide doing their bit to build the capacity of local environmental organizations that conserve and regenerate our planet for future generations. By joining this global family, the Cyprus Environment Foundation (CEF) is gaining access to a wide network of experts and know-how, granting CEF with invaluable support during its establishment on the island and constant development.
Some examples of great work across the Conservation Collective network are:
- Menorca Preservation Society attempting to create a Plastic Free Menorca and transition to more Regenerative Farming Practices.
- Lanka Environment Fund working to save the Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve – the largest remaining contiguous mangrove forest.
- Barbados Environmental Conservation Trust who are boosting coral regeneration.
- Devon Environment Foundation working on restoring river wildlife corridors and reintroducing beavers in the region of Devon.
- Cyclades Preservation Fund fighting alien invasive species through gastronomy.
This global ‘family’ allows for best practices to be shared worldwide while fostering a ‘virtual’ global team to ensure maximum collaboration. Each fund is apolitical, independent, not for profit and privately funded. All CC local foundations work by involving, empowering and strengthening local communities in order to build capacity and create the maximum potential positive impact.
This model has proved to be a successful way of increasing philanthropic funding for the environment by engaging new types of donors and directly turbocharging the work of local environmental champions by being agile, unbureaucratic, and ‘getting stuff done’.
“Everywhere you look there are brilliant, passionate people working to create positive environmental change. Often, they work to advance their projects and campaigns with little or no budget. The aim of the local environmental re-granting funds of the Conservation Collective is to make it easy for individuals and local businesses to provide financial support to the most effective organisations working for the protection and restoration of the natural environment of the place that they love. Small amounts of funding, strategically directed, can supercharge this work – as we are seeing across the places in which we have created these funds.”
Ben Goldsmith – Founder, Conservation Collective