Delivering funding to protect rare and endangered species

In conservation, opportunities to purchase important lands—and as a result save rare and endangered species—may arise abruptly and require an immediate financial commitment to secure broader protections. The Quick Response Fund for Nature (QRFN) is a rapid response mechanism managed by RESOLVE that matches scientific expertise, funds, and urgent needs with a speed unparalleled in the funding community. We rigorously review applications and deliver funding—within a week when necessary—so that sites essential to the protection of rare and endangered species can be conserved when the opportunity arises.

To LEARN MORE ABOUT QRFN OR APPLY, VISIT THE WEBSITE HERE

The goal of the project is to ensure that any globally significant land deal—one that protects sites with rare species and a carbon-rich ecosystem—has access to the necessary funds. We seek to provide funding that can secure the property, show commitment and investment so that the conservation buyer has the ability to make a down payment, and hold the property while remaining funds are raised. While QRFN funds project around the world, we recognize the particular importance of those protecting Species Rarity Sites— which include Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, Key Biodiversity Areas, ranges of threatened and endemic vertebrate species, and rare plants. These crucial areas, mapped by a RESOLVE-led research team in the Global Safety Net, comprise 2.3% of the Earth’s remaining terrestrial habitat is essential to avoiding extinctions of the world’s most at-risk species.

RESOLVE staff curate proposal review, handle funding decisions, and administer subawards on behalf of QRFN. All applications are reviewed by our Expert Advisory Panel, which consists of more than fifty five world-renowned conservation biologists and taxonomic specialists who volunteer their time to provide recommendations in a timely manner. They are crucial to the ability of QRFN to expedite decisions and select and fund the most deserving projects.

Thanks to generous support from our donors, QRFN has funded forty five high-priority land conservation deals spanning 23 countries in five continents since 2015. The fund helped conserve more than 32,000 hectares of globally significant habitat that contribute to the survival of unique species, such as the cotton-top tamarin, Chinese pangolin, great green macaw, mountain tapir, and black-footed ferret. Over the next five years, we are seeking to protect the world’s most critical sites for rare species.