The Waterloo Foundation (TWF) is an independent grant-making Foundation created in 2007, and based in Cardiff, Wales. We are a registered charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1117535). We give grants to organisations in both the UK and world-wide. We are most interested in projects that help globally particularly in the areas of the disparity of opportunities and wealth and the unsustainable use of the world’s natural resources. We want to help both the global community and the local community here in Wales.
The world has approximately 4 billion hectares of forest, representing almost 30% of the Earth's landmass, with roughly 56 percent of these forests lying in tropical and subtropical areas1. More than 1 billion people rely heavily on forests for their livelihoods2, and they are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than half of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects3. It is estimated that 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon are released annually due to deforestation and burning, brought about by land use change. The major portion of which is from tropical deforestation. This represents about 20 percent of current global carbon emissions4.
The world has approximately 4 billion hectares of forest, representing almost 30% of the Earth's landmass, with roughly 56 percent of these forests lying in tropical and subtropical areas1. More than 1 billion people rely heavily on forests for their livelihoods2, and they are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than half of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects3. It is estimated that 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon are released annually due to deforestation and burning, brought about by land use change. The major portion of which is from tropical deforestation. This represents about 20 percent of current global carbon emissions4.
Under our Forests programme, preference will be given to initiatives working to protect tropical rainforests
for their value to the climate, communities and biodiversity,
principally through avoided deforestation. We will consider both
practical local projects, and strategic initiatives.
Local projects
Applications for practical local projects that
we will consider would typically be working on a specified tropical
forest area, defined in hectares. Applicants will need to demonstrate
how their project involves:
- Exposing, addressing and overcoming the local drivers of deforestation
- Management of the specified area
- Methods to measure and monitor the protected area
- Sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities
Click here for examples of local projects we have funded through our Tropical Rainforests programme.
Strategic projects
We will consider applications for strategic
projects that are working on addressing the drivers of deforestation on
a wider or international scale. These could include:
- Working on international or regional forest policy
- Campaigning for improved practices in commerce
- Innovative ways of reducing deforestation e.g. financial systems or solutions based on the value of forest ecosystem services
Click here for examples of strategic projects we have funded through our Tropical Rainforests programme.
WHAT WE WILL NOT FUND
We are not able to offer funding for:
- Tree planting projects
- Projects focused solely on the use of fuel-efficient stoves – we have selected one partner to undertake forest-related efficient stove interventions
- Projects with animal conservation as the sole focus
- Projects focusing on environmental education
- We are currently not accepting proposals for REDD projects, pending a review of projects already funded.
- In addition, we only consider proposals from US-based organisations under exceptional circumstances, due to the higher availability of environmental funding in the US compared to the UK.
