Quick Response Fund for Nature

Habitat and biodiversity loss is happening rapidly but solutions to protect rare and endangered species often take too long to implement. The Quick Response Fund for Nature (QRFN) accelerates protection by creating a rapid response mechanism that matches scientific expertise and funds with conservation needs. We work with unparalleled speed, rigorously review applications and deliver funding—within a week when necessary—so that habitat essential to the protection of rare and endangered species can be conserved when the opportunity arises.

While QRFN funds projects 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 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 that is essential to avoiding extinctions of the world’s most at-risk species.

Thanks to generous support from our donors, QRFN has funded nearly sixty high-priority land conservation deals spanning 25 countries in five continents since 2015. The fund helped conserve more than 35,000 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, or the Conservation Imperatives (publication available late 2023).

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