A new environmental charity is providing a valuable link between corporate supporters and communities at the front line of conservation and sustainable development efforts.
Founded by conservationist and leader Rhoda Phillips, Communities for Nature offers corporates the chance to play their part in tackling the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges, and provide vital support to local communities around the world.
By bringing together companies and communities, Communities for Nature says it wants to reimagine the global approach to conservation funding. Its model will see communities and their supporters co-design projects that will make an impact in environmental education, conservation and regeneration.
It will also help deliver sustainable economic activity, for example on imaginative approaches to agriculture, aquaculture and nature tourism. Every project is bespoke, community-led and action focused.
The London-based charity has already put in place its first successful partnership, matching LMAX Group, the global financial technology company and the leading independent operator of multiple institutional execution venues for FX and crypto currency trading, with the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation Inc. (PRRCFI).
The ongoing one-year ‘Actions for Communities and Environment’ partnership has funded sustainability scholarships for young people from local rural communities, youth marine and wildlife camps, and ecotourism training camps, amongst other initiatives.
Rhoda Phillips launched Communities for Nature inspired by personal experience as the Island Manager and education officer for Danjugan Island, a 43-hectare conservation area at the heart of PRRCFI’s operations.
Now based in the UK and a board trustee of PRRCFI, Rhoda founded Communities for Nature to help magnify the principles of education and collaboration at the heart of Danjugan’s programmes and tackle the climate and biodiversity crises.
Speaking after the charity launch in January, Rhoda 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.”
