"If bees disappeared, man would only have a few years to live. No more pollination, no more grass, no more animals, no more men."

(Albert Einstein)

"Man isn’t the only animal who thinks, but he is the only one who thinks he isn’t an animal"

(Paul Broca)

The Foundation is using some of its funds to protect threatened and/or disappearing species, in the form of Small Grants .

Key statistics

• One species of mammal in four, one species of bird in eight, 1/3 of all amphibians on the IUCN Red List of threatened species in 2007 are in danger.

• Nearly 30,000 living land or marine species disappear every year and at that rate, 50% of species could disappear by 2100

• 785 species have become extinct and another 65 only exist in captivity or under cultivation

• Over 70% of fishing grounds are overfished or are fished up to their capacity to restock. Each year 100 million sharks are caught in nets or killed for their fins. In less than 20 years, the shark population has been reduced by between 50 and 80%, depending on the species

• Whereas scientists estimate that there are between 10 and 100 million species, a mere 1.7 million have been catalogued by science

Projects

The Foundation opened this new area at the beginning of 2008, and the first projects to be given support will soon be online, in next newsletters .

The selection criteria can be viewed in the section headed Small Grants .

Those organisations wishing to submit a proposal, click on Propose a draft .