Maliasili Conservation Fund

More good money for great and impactful organizations →

The Maliasili Conservation Fund (MCF) is a groundbreaking pooled funding initiative launched to provide multi-year, unrestricted support to a portfolio of Africa’s leading conservation organizations.

Inspired by the Maasai Landscape Conservation Fund (MLCF - 2020–2023), the MCF goes further, focusing on advancing innovative, locally-led conservation efforts in East Africa (EA), the KAZA region in southern Africa, and Madagascar.

“If we can get funding that supports our strategic plan, it would be a break-through. The funding we receive is project-based, so a lot of important work is left behind.”

Rahima Njaidi
Executive Director, Community Forest Conservation Network of Tanzania (MJUMITA)

MCF invests in community-led organization as they address climate, wildlife conservation, local resource rights, and livelihoods, helping to spread innovative and high-impact models, with local roots and leadership at the helm of the African conservation narrative.

With the MCF, we aim to ensure that the best and brightest local organizations have the resources they need to strengthen their operations and amplify their impact.

What's driving us →

Despite the talent, commitment, and impact of local organizations, the global funding architecture has made it exceedingly difficult for local organizations to increase their impact and set the agenda for the African community conservation space. Globally, Indigenous Peoples and local community organizations receive less than 1% of all climate funding. African organizations receive only around 10% of all private philanthropic funding invested across the continent.

Many local conservation organizations are constrained by project-based funding that limits their ability to innovate or address emerging challenges.

The MCF aims at changing that narrative by offering:

→ Unrestricted funding

Empowering partners to align funding with their strategic priorities.

→ Multi-year support

Enabling long-term planning and sustainability.

→ Streamlined processes

Minimizing administrative burdens so partners can focus on their work.

→ Relatively substantial funding

The MCF aims to cover 10% - 25% of a grantee organization’s annual budget during the funding period, with a determined cap.

What we fund →

MCF investments tackle critical challenges at the intersection of:

→ Climate resilience

→ Wildlife conservation

→ Local resource rights

→ Livelihood enhancement

Our funding helps scale locally-rooted solutions, advance leadership, and strengthen the African conservation narrative.

Highlights since we launched in 2023 →

$6.73M

Disbursed as grants to date

Partners in three focal geographies

“You feel almost for the first time, that you're trusted as an entity that has been given money to use for conservation work. The way Maliasili staff approach you is as if they're the ones that owe you something that they need to negotiate with you.”

“Just so you know, this time of year, at the end of the 1st quarter, is always our most strained financial time for many varying reasons. And so this massive windfall of funding support has relieved the pressure significantly and for this we are extremely grateful to you all.”

“The clarity of the guidelines and the streamlined approach to grant application management were particularly beneficial, allowing us to reduce administrative burdens and focus our efforts on the effective implementation of our initiatives.”

Funding Partners →

So far, we have raised $12.3M of a revised four-year funding target of $16M from a dedicated group of funding partners. This includes $4M allocated by Maliasili from a 2022 one-time gift from MacKenzie Scott.

Funding Geographies →

Southern Kenya / Northern Tanzania Rangelands

• East Africa's greatest savannah landscapes • National-level momentum for community conservation • Strong and established local and community-based organizations

Madagascar

• Top global biodiversity hotspot • Urgent threats from deforestation and critically endangered species loss. • New and rising Malagasy conservation leaders

Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA)

• A transboundary collaboration between Namibia. Angola. Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe • Home to roughly half of all Africa's elephants. • Strong community conservation leadership and existing working models

Grantmaking Principles →

We started this fund to fill a gap for our partners - to get them more and better money. But we also want it to help us and others in our field learn how we can improve funding and grantmaking mechanisms that will result in greater impact overall.

How it works →

Frequently Asked Questions →

The Maliasili Conservation Fund (MCF) is a fund that invests directly in the growth and impact of a portfolio of Africa’s leading community conservation organizations. These organizations have the ideas, commitment, grassroots presence, and community relationships to achieve critical outcomes for people, climate, and nature.

The Fund aims to raise $16M to distribute to at least 26 organizations in three key geographies. So far, we have raised $12M from a variety of generous funders and have distributed over $4M of flexible funding, directly supporting 26 organizations across three geographies.

The Fund was created to address the funding challenges that many local organizations across Africa face. Despite their talent and commitment, these organizations struggle to grow, increase their impact, and have their voices heard due to systemic barriers in funding practices.

Globally, Indigenous Peoples and local community organizations receive less than 1% of all climate funding, and African organizations receive only around 10% of all private philanthropic funding invested across the continent. The Maliasili Conservation Fund aims to change this by providing more equitable and effective funding.

The Fund provides direct, multi-year core support, including organizational development tools and processes, core funding, and customized organizational support. This enables grantees to invest in their teams, improve communication and fundraising, manage systems, and invest in infrastructure.

The Fund focuses on core operational support to local African organizations that are partners of Maliasili working in climate, wildlife conservation, local resource rights, and livelihoods.

Investing in the Fund allows you to support a portfolio of Africa’s best and brightest community conservation organizations. Your investment helps address climate change, wildlife conservation, local resource rights, and livelihoods, promoting innovative and high-impact models with local roots and leadership.

Prospective donors can get involved by contributing to the Fund, participating in field learning opportunities, and engaging in strategy development processes. Contact Maliasili to learn more about how you can support Africa’s leading community conservation organizations.