Environment charity allows firms to support frontline conservation projects

A new charity will offer corporates the opportunity to support conservationists and communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis.  

Communities for Nature, which launched last week, will act as a conduit between firms and sustainable development projects.  

The charity, based in London, is rethinking the approach to conservation funding, allowing communities and supporters to co-design projects which improve environmental education, conservation and regeneration.  

Projects could also deliver sustainable economic activity through agriculture, aquaculture or nature tourism, with every activity being community-led.  

Founder Rhoda Phillips launched the charity after being inspired by her time as Island Manager and Education officer for Danjugan Island, a 43-hectare conservation area in the Philippines.  

Now based in the UK and a board trustee for the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation Inc (PRRCFI), she aims to help magnify the principles of education and collaboration at the heart of Danjugan’s programmes. 

She said: ‘From global corporates to individuals, so many of us are looking for ways to meaningfully contribute to protecting our natural world. With Communities for Nature, we are enabling organisations to support communities working at the front line of efforts to protect ecosystems. With us, corporates are directly involved in the process, with the chance to learn from the source about the day-to-day impact of climate change and biodiversity decline on the environment, and people’s lives and livelihoods.’  

Communities for Nature has already established a partnership between LMAX group, a global financial technology company, with the PRRCFI. 

The ‘Actions for Communities and Environment’ partnership has also been going for a year and has funded sustainability scholarships for young people from local rural communities, youth marine and wildlife camps and ecotourism training camps.  

Photos provided by Communities for Nature