Environment

This Paul G. Allen Family Foundation initiative, with an RFP announced in 2024, will fund 3-5 rigorous, place-based Natural Climate Solutions efforts in the Pacific Northwest. The foundation is looking to fund programs that accelerate climate change mitigation, while also providing biodiversity and human wellbeing co-benefits. We recognize that Indigenous Peoples are original stewards of the land and so we have a particular interest in projects that are led or done in partnership with tribes, first nations, villages, state-recognized tribes, tribal colleges and universities, and tribal non-profits in the PNW.

Canada lynx are protected under the Endangered Species Act, but vast swaths of Washington State’s lynx habitat have burned over the past two decades and if wildfires continue at this rate and intensity, lynx are in danger of local extinction. Home Range Wildlife Research uses GPS collars and long-term remote camera monitoring stations to understand how Canada lynx are utilizing varying degrees of burned habitat throughout the Methow Valley in Washington. This research provides a critical understanding of the extent to which lynx are using the altered landscape and will provide data to inform forest management techniques that can incorporate safeguards to ensure vital habitats remain for lynx conservation.

Expanding on the discoveries from the landmark Global FinPrint survey (also funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation) the Global FinPrint 2.0 project will resurvey 50 MPAs and 50 control sites to asses changes in reef shark abundance and will estimate the relationship between MPA design features and shark population trends by building in-country capacity for reef shark monitoring, and working with local decision-makers to build on commitments for 30x30 and CITES to build or improve existing MPAs.

The Earthshot Prize, inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot effort in the 1960s, aims to unite people to drive innovation to protect the Earth. The program is entering its third year and awards 1 million pounds each to five annual winners in the categories of Protect & Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate. The foundation is a Global Alliance Founding Partner of this initiative, originally developed by The Royal Foundation, and co-founded by HRH Prince William.

Mycorrhizal fungi, otherwise known as plant root fungi, create underground networks that assist approximately 90% of plants with nutrient and water absorption, protect plants from pathogens, and influence the rate at which plants absorb carbon from the air, thus helping to regulate the Earth’s climate. The Society of Protection of Underground Network will fund 80 “underground explorers” around the world to sample soil using new genetic techniques in under-explored and hard-to-reach places will develop an open-source threat map, and better understand the ecosystem functions of these important underground organisms.