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The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund is an innovative philanthropy providing small grants to boots-on-the-ground, get-your-hands-dirty, in-the-field species conservation projects for the world’s most threatened species.
Through innovative micro-financing, the MBZ Fund empowers conservationists to fight the extinction crisis instead of bureaucracy and red-tape. To date the Fund has awarded over 2000 grants to a diverse range of species across the world.
The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund is a philanthropic endowment established to do the following:
The Fund’s reach is truly global, and its species interest is non-discriminatory. It is open to applications for funding support from conservationists based in all parts of the world, and will potentially support projects focused on any and all kinds of plant, animal and fungus species, subject to the approval of an independent evaluation committee.
In addition, the Fund will recognize leaders in the field of species conservation and scientific research to ensure their important work is given the attention it deserves and to elevate the importance of species in global conservation discourse.
For 2022 the Fund would like to announce that applications received before the end of 31 October, 2022 will be reviewed and applicants will receive a reply by late December 2022. For the moment this remains the case despite the global COVID-19 pandemic. For more details on the application and review timetable please go to our grants timetable page.
In 2019 (the latest year with "regular" grants) the Fund supported 170 projects selected from 1,647 grant applications. The selected projects, located in over 60 different countries across six continents, shared $1,502,029 in funding.
The Fund had an initial endowment of €25,000,000, of which a small portion is spent each year on grants. The species conservation case study section of our web site shows up-to-date information on where these funds have been allocated so far.
It is envisaged that the Fund’s establishment will act as a catalyst to attract additional donations from third party sources to ensure the Fund’s annual contribution to direct species conservation initiatives increases over time.
To view the Fund's Annual Reports, please click here.