Bezos Earth Fund Awards $30 Million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Funding will benefit conservation projects that focus on carbon, biodiversity and community
Washington, D.C. (December 6, 2021) – The Bezos Earth Fund today announced a $30 million award to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to support conservation projects in the United States that will generate immediate, overlapping benefits across three urgent areas of concern: advancing carbon goals to mitigate climate change, conserving wildlife biodiversity, and boosting the resilience of communities across the nation.
Through competitive grant-making, NFWF will focus investments on nature-based solutions that meaningfully improve carbon storage and sequestration while enhancing biodiversity and sustaining wildlife species. Of these investments, all of which will be obligated in 2022, approximately 40 percent are expected to directly engage or benefit underserved communities, including low-income communities and communities of color.
“The donation we receive today from the Bezos Earth Fund is the largest single donation in our history, and it serves as a powerful validation of our shared vision of taking immediate action by utilizing nature-based solutions to help overcome the challenges of climate change,” said J. Michael Cline, Chairman of NFWF’s Board of Directors.
“Shovel-ready conservation projects represent our nation’s most cost-effective and immediate opportunity to sequester carbon at the scale necessary to have a measurable impact,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “Our carbon strategy focuses on quickly identifying and funding landscape-scale projects that generate the greatest possible benefits for carbon, habitats, wildlife and the full range of communities across the United States.”
To provide the greatest return on the Earth Fund investment, NFWF will engage with its network of grantees, partners and existing programs to competitively award grants that support the implementation of nature-based climate solutions at scale. NFWF will focus its grant-making on projects that deliver near-term, on-the-ground impacts for carbon, biodiversity and communities. Additionally, NFWF will award grants that help build capacity to implement nature-based solutions, particularly within underserved communities, to accelerate and amplify solutions to the long-term need to deliver climate solutions equitably across the nation.
About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the health of natural ecosystems so our native species can thrive. Working with public and private partners, NFWF supports science-based solutions to complex conservation challenges. Learn more at nfwf.org.
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Contact:
Rob Blumenthal, 202-857-0166, rob.blumenthal@nfwf.org