BioDivMeter 2023: Commitment of Swiss grant-making foundations in support of biodiversity
Aiming to increase the visibility of biodiversity, the Somaha Foundation has launched the two-year pilot project (2022 – 2023) BioDivMeter together with other Swiss grant-making foundations that are committed to biodiversity. The BioDivMeter maps part of the biodiversity commitment in the Swiss foundation sector and makes some interesting statements about it.
Aim
In addition to increasing the visibility of biodiversity, the BioDivMeter pursues further objectives: Foundations that promote biodiversity are networked, project managers receive additional information about potential funding partners and the public gains an insight into biodiversity promotion. To this end, key figures on the biodiversity projects supported were collected from the participating foundations. Only projects in which at least 80% of the funding contribution directly benefits biodiversity and which are located in Switzerland were considered.
Result
Nine foundations participated in the BioDivMeter in 2023 with a total of around CHF 2.5 million in funding for 86 biodiversity projects. Compared to the previous year, there was a significant increase in the amount of funding allocated (2022: CHF 1 million), while the number of projects (2022: 83 projects) remained comparable. The reasons for this increase in funding are not conclusive::
- Of the seven foundations that were already participating in the BioDivMeter in 2022, some changed their funding focus in 2023 and placed more emphasis on biodiversity promotion.
- In 2023, two additional foundations with a focus on biodiversity were persuaded to participate in the BioDivMeter.
In the second pilot year, the BioDivMeter was expanded to include the Friends of the BioDivMeter. These do not fully meet the criteria for participation in the BioDivMeter and have therefore not provided any data. However, they are part of the network and contribute to increasing the visibility of biodiversity.
Outlook
The two-year pilot phase of the BioDivMeter has been successfully completed. Organizations interested in continuing and developing the BioDivMeter were invited to get involved.
The detailed evaluation can be found here.
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