Conservationists alarmed by drastic cuts to key UK fund for global nature protection

One of the UK’s longest-standing funds for global nature protection is being drastically cut back, the Guardian has learned. At least 89 countries will lose eligibility for funding for biodiversity projects under the Darwin Initiative , in a round of cuts that conservationists warned would put species and habitats in jeopardy, and set back global efforts to halt the precipitous decline in nature. The Guardian understands that 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 conference under the UN convention on biodiversity this October, will also be excluded. “At a time when governments have committed to CBD agreements to scale international biodiversity finance to $30 billion a year by 2030, continued cuts and restrictions risk undermining trust that those promises will actually be delivered,” said Andrew Terry, ZSL’s Director of Conservation and Policy. “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 some of the 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 at a time when communities and ecosystems are already under growing pressure. …