Cargill Foundation, Margaret A.

Our goal: to enable local communities to sustain healthy ecosystems that perpetuate biodiversity and the ecosystem services that support human well-being

We believe that biodiversity, ecosystem health and human well-being are connected. To protect the ecosystem services that people depend upon (for food, water, fiber, flood control, etc.), communities must protect the biodiverse ecosystems that provide these services, in balance with their needs to alter these ecosystems for agriculture, living space and other needs. We believe the key to lasting conservation outcomes is community-based organizations with the capacity to adapt to continually changing political, economic and environmental conditions, and to work in ways that are grounded in the local culture.

Our intention is to work in many parts of the world over time, but to focus at any given time on a limited number of places where we will invest to build conservation capacity that can thrive far beyond the period of our funding support. We are exploring nine potential geographies. As grantmaking decisions are made throughout 2011 and 2012, summaries of subprogram strategies will be posted on this web site. The program’s progress and priorities will be evaluated and updated in 2015.