One of the UK's longest-standing funds for global nature protection, the Darwin Initiative, is being drastically cut back, according to sources. At least 89 countries will lose eligibility for funding for biodiversity projects, a move that conservationists warn will put species and habitats in jeopardy and set back global efforts to halt the decline in nature.
The regions to be dropped include most of Africa, central Asia, and parts of Latin America. Countries such as Argentina, Iran, Sudan, Chad, Mali, and Angola would lose out. Armenia, which is hosting the next UN biodiversity conference in October, will also be excluded.
Andrew Terry, ZSL's Director of Conservation and Policy, expressed alarm: "At a time when governments have committed to scaling international biodiversity finance to $30 billion a year by 2030, continued cuts and restrictions risk undermining trust that those promises will be delivered. For decades, the Darwin Initiative has been one of the UK's most important programmes for supporting wildlife, improving livelihoods, and tackling climate change in regions that need support most. But reductions to the UK's international aid budget and the removal of eligibility for 89 countries mean locally led organisations are losing vital backing when communities and ecosystems are under growing pressure."
Catherine Weller, director of policy at Fauna & Flora, said: "We were shocked to see the extent of the geographies cast out of the Darwin Initiative this year. Some good projects will now not be in contention. People living close to nature are its greatest champions, and Darwin is the type of funding they need."
The Darwin Initiative was launched in 1992 by then-Prime Minister John Major at the Rio Earth Summit. Its high-profile projects include reducing peatland tropical forest fires in Indonesia and establishing Bhutan's first national botanical garden.
Among the 89 excluded countries are rapidly emerging economies like China, India, Mexico, and Turkey. International development minister Jenny Chapman stated the UK would stop supporting G20 countries with aid. However, Brazil and Indonesia remain eligible.
The overall funding reduction is unclear, but existing funds will not be cut. This comes after the UK hosted a major international aid conference celebrating climate and nature spending. Conservationists fear further cuts, as the UK has reduced climate finance to £2bn annually from £11.6bn over five years and ended the earmark for nature spending within climate finance.
Adrian Gahan of the Campaign for Nature said: "The world struck a deal in 2022 that global south countries would protect their rainforests, wetlands, and oceans, and donor countries would help pay for it. Expect far worse than 35C in Britain in May if we lose the Brazilian rainforest."
A Defra spokesperson said: "We have made a deliberate choice to focus our efforts where biodiversity loss is most acute and where Darwin Initiative funding can deliver the biggest measurable difference for nature and people. The trade-off is clear: spread our efforts thinly or concentrate funding where it can achieve the greatest impact."
