TRANSFORMING GLOBAL AMBITION INTO GRASSROOTS ACTION

Whitley Fund for Nature is a UK charity. We have channelled £23 million to 220 conservation leaders in 80 countries across the Global South, benefiting wildlife, landscapes and people.

Applications are now open for the 2025 Whitley Awards

We’ve begun the search for our next cohort of Whitley Award winners. Are you a conservationist leading an inspiring project in your home country? You could be among the next Whitley Award winners! Find out more here.

2024 Whitley Award winners

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Avatar for Fernanda Abra
Brazil

Avatar for Raju Acharya
Nepal

Avatar for Leroy Ignacio
Guyana

Avatar for Naomi Longa
Papua New Guinea

Avatar for Kuenzang Dorji
Bhutan

Avatar for Aristide Kamla
Cameroon

Sir David Attenborough narrates this new film about Purnima Devi Barman, winner of the 2024 Whitley Gold Award.

WFN's top prize is awarded annually to a Whitley Award alumnus who has also received Continuation Funding. This laddered support allows successful conservation solutions to be scaled up; Purnima is a wildlife biologist from Assam, India, whose work to protect the Greater Adjutant Stork has seen the population quadruple and empowered more than 10,000 women as advocates for the bird.

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A Masterclass from Conservationists on Ingenuity and Hard-Earned Hope for Nature

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Applications are open until 31 October 2024.

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A look behind the scenes of the 2024 Whitley Awards week in London…

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A celebration of our globally #SharedFuture

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Announcing this year’s recipients of world-leading prizes for grassroots wildlife conservation…

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On 1 May, we celebrated the newest cohort of Whitley Award winners, six incredible conservationists from across the Global South working to safeguard our #SharedFuture

PUBLICATIONS

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The Whitley Fund for Nature is unique. It doesn’t put its own people on the ground but seeks out local leaders who are already succeeding. It puts its money where it really counts, where every penny counts.
Sir David Attenborough, WFN Ambassador
WFN is one of the most cost effective and direct impact charities working to protect the environment.
HRH The Princess Royal, WFN Patron
This is what the Whitley Awards are all about – recognising effective grassroots leaders and helping them expand their work.
Kate Humble, WFN Ambassador
WFN_Ambassador_Tom_Heap
The Whitley Awards are the most uplifting environmental event of the year.
Tom Heap, WFN Ambassador
Whitley Award winners are warriors for biodiversity and, with our planet in crisis, their work has never been so crucial.
Alastair Fothergill, WFN Ambassador

conservation and climate change

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WFN is one of 15 organisations urging world leaders to increase support for locally-led solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises, in a joint open letter at COP26.

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The WFN funding stream supporting community-led action for conservation and climate.

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Your opportunity to offset carbon through a Whitley Award-winning reforestation project in Brazil.