Annual Report 2023
Our latest annual report reflects LLF’s expanded portfolio and increased financial commitments in the face of ever-intensifying strains on conservation work around the world.
LLF received contributions of approximately 33.4 million EUR in 2023 thanks to 25 million USD from Arcadia, ten million USD from the Rob Walton Foundation (RWF), and 1.7 million EUR from Norad as a second installment. Additionally, BMZ committed 30 million EUR that will be disbursed in four tranches over the following years, the Eleonore Beck Foundation committed five million USD, and Nia Tero committed five million USD that will be directly disbursed to their grantee. This brings the total contributions to LLF to 325 million EUR.
LLF’s current grant portfolio represents an estimated total program volume of 285 million USD. The grant funding is split between LLF’s public donors, who contributed approximately 190 million USD, and philanthropic and private match funders, who contributed 95 million USD. The remaining candidate site represents an additional funding commitment of 15 million USD.
In 2023, LLF doubled the size of its grant portfolio from seven to 14 sites. Through the 2022 open call for proposals, seven sites were chosen to develop full proposals after undergoing a multi-stage selection process that considered the biodiversity value, habitat diversity, conservation approaches, integration of local communities, and ecosystem services of the proposed site. Funding decisions for these sites were made in June, and by the end of 2023, LLF had signed grant agreements with all seven new grantees.
Last year, one additional candidate site from the waiting list, the Onon-Balj landscape in Mongolia, underwent a comprehensive independent environmental and social due diligence (ESDD) study, developed a full proposal, and was approved for funding by the supervisory board. The grant agreement for Onon-Balj is expected to be signed in the coming months, and funding will start later in 2024.
When this grant agreement is signed, LLF have achieved 50 percent of its goal of sustainably funding 30 sites by 2030 in only three years.
The full annual report contains further detailed information on LLF’s operations and finances, as well as details of our impact and impact measurement, including insights and stories on how our funding protects nature, people, and climate on the ground.
