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Why Now: a Case for Philanthropy
We sit at a tipping point in human history as we experience
twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The loss of
species threatens the carbon-storing capabilities of healthy
ecosystems, and a rapidly warming climate accelerates the
extinction of more species. If we do not protect the most critical
high-biodiversity lands and oceans in the next 3-5 years, we
could cross a tipping point that will propel us further into the
6th mass extinction event ever in the history of life on Earth.
Everything material humans use and create comes from the
natural world; unraveling the natural world means unraveling
society and the economy as we understand it.
A science-backed solution pathway exists, and the Earth is regenerative in nature. Nature conservation is one of three crucial pillars in this solution pathway, as it supports bene昀椀cial
and stabilizing ecosystem services that support both species
and climate. However, Nature Conservation is consistently
underfunded, with less than 2% of US-based philanthropy
funding environmental non-pro昀椀ts.
Indigenous Peoples steward over 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Philanthropy can uniquely fund and empower
Indigenous peoples and local communities to protect,
restore, and regenerate lands and waters globally while
the opportunity still exists. Funding these communities
to continue protecting and regenerating their regions
昀椀lls an existing funding gap while moving resources to
communities that have proven through time that they
preserve and restore the lands and waters they steward.
The cost of waiting is too high; the time to act is now. By
collectively acting today, we can reduce environmental
degradation, build coalitions, and deploy resources to
scale protection and regeneration effectively.
Our team and partners are in service to this Earth and future
generations, who will inherit this one small planet after we
are gone. We are planting seeds today to feed the children
of tomorrow. We hope you will join us.
