Project Associate

Meet the first Blue Corridors for Turtles grantees. Oceanic Society is proud to announce the first recipients of the Blue Corridors for Turtles (BC4T) Small Grants Program. Eleven grantees across Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas are receiving funding and equipment through the program, which Oceanic Society's State of the World's Sea Turtles (SWOT) program is coordinating in partnership with WWF and satellite tag maker Wildlife Computers. Their work will help fill major gaps in what Oceanic Society know about where sea turtles go in the ocean, identifying the ocean habitats and migration routes that specific turtle populations depend on. Because sea turtles cross entire oceans and range widely throughout the ocean, knowing which specific areas are most important to them is essential to focus conservation efforts in the places where they can have the biggest impact. What is Blue Corridors for Turtles? Blue Corridors for Turtles is a global effort to track where sea turtles go and how their populations are connected - combining satellite tracking with genetic data through ShellBank, a global genetic database for sea turtles, to map their journeys across the world's oceans. Unlike whales, dolphins, and other ocean giants, sea turtles still don't have globally recognized important areas - areas designated because science has shown animals depend on them. BC4T, led by WWF in partnership with Oceanic Society's SWOT program, the University of Queensland, and other conservation groups, is working to close that gap. By bringing together nesting, tracking, and genetic data, BC4T is working to change that and give sea turtles and the communities who share their coastlines a stronger voice in how they're protected. To that end, BC4T has distributed $50,000, alongside five satellite transmitters (two for leatherback turtles, three for green, hawksbill, and other hardshell species), to support community-led research that helps close the gaps needed to create Important Marine Turtle Areas. Disbursed by Oceanic Society, funds went to projects addressing nesting locations, migratory patterns, and genetic connectivity, particularly those working across borders, strengthening regional collaboration, and actively involving local communities in the research itself. 2026 Blue Corridors for Turtles grantees. Each grantee is tackling a different piece of the puzzle. Some are tracking where turtles nest, others where they travel, and others their genetic connections to other populations Africa. Wildlife and Human Resources Organisation / WHRO Ghana (Ghana) - At its long-running study site in the Awutu/Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region, WHRO, led by Andrews Agyekumhene, will work with local fishers to collect genetic samples from bycaught turtles, closing a key gap in West Africa's genetic connectivity data for green, leatherback, and olive ridley turtles. Biotope Network (Cameroon) - At Ebodjé, a recognized critical nesting habitat in Cameroon's South Region, Biotope Network, led by Dr. Bruno Zock, will map nesting activity and collect genetic samples under ShellBank protocols while training local community monitors. Olive Ridley Project Kenya (Kenya) - At Jumba Beach, Mtwapa, in Kilifi County, ORP-Kenya, led by Joana Hancock, will use genetic analysis to investigate a newly documented migratory route connecting Kenya's green turtle population south to Mozambique. Women in Conservation Organization / WICO (Tanzania) - In the Rufiji Estuary and adjacent nearshore communities of Mohoro, Msomeni, and Kaale in Pwani Region, WICO, led by Eva Johnson Ayaro, will combine satellite telemetry and genetic sampling to reveal green turtle connectivity in the Western Indian Ocean, with capacity-building support from ShellBank for this women-led team. Southeast Asia & the Pacific. Nanyang Technological University (Brunei) - Along the historic nesting coastline stretching from Pelompong Island to Belait Beach, a team led by Associate Professor Hie Lim Kim of NTU Singapore, working with Universiti Brunei Darussalam, the Brunei Department of Fisheries, and Laut Brunei, will establish the country's first systematic sea turtle monitoring program in more than two decades, piloting tagging and genetic sampling in a country with minimal prior turtle research. Anambas Foundation (Indonesia) - At Teluk Dalam Island in the Anambas Marine Protected Area, the foundation, led by Novita Putri, will expand genetic sampling of green and hawksbill turtles to strengthen a regionally significant nesting dataset. TurtleSpot Taiwan (Taiwan) - Across Liuqiu and Taiping Islands in the South China Sea, TurtleSpot, led by Chia-Ling Fong, will build genetic baselines from archived and stranded green turtles alongside nesting surveys, addressing a major connectivity gap in the region. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development (Kiribati) - On Abaiang Island, the Ministry will generate the first systematic, community-led data on marine turtle nesting and genetics, with support from ShellBank and SPREP. The Americas. AquaMarina (Argentina) - At San Clemente in Buenos Aires province, the species' southernmost known foraging ground, AquaMarina, led by Victoria González Carman, will work with artisanal fishers to satellite-tag adult male leatherback turtles - a life stage almost entirely unstudied in the South Atlantic - linking findings to the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC). Latin American Sea Turtles (Costa Rica) - At Golfo Dulce, near Puerto Jiménez in Puntarenas, LAST, led by Didiher Chacón Chaverrí, will extend more than fifteen years of in-water hawksbill monitoring, using satellite tracking to locate the nesting beaches used by its resident foraging females and connect that data to the wider CMAR region. Uella Environmental Research & Consulting (Mexico) - Across the nesting sites of Costa Careyes and Punta de Mita in Jalisco and Nayarit, Dr. Catherine Hart will advance hawksbill satellite-tracking data management to compare movement patterns between the two isolated northern Pacific nesting populations. What happens next. The data these eleven grantees collect will feed directly into BC4T's wider connectivity data, which will ultimately support the creation of Important Marine Turtle Areas through regional workshops planned to begin under the IUCN-SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group's guidance by the end of 2026. In this way, eleven small, locally-led projects become part of a much larger, global effort to chart the connectivity that will determine where and how marine turtles are protected in the years ahead. Ashleigh Bandimere. Ashleigh Bandimere is Oceanic Society's sea turtle program manager. Ashleigh earned a Bachelor's in Biology from the Santa Clara University and a Master's in Biodiversity and Conservation from the CSIC in Spain, and has dedicated her post-graduation career to sea turtle conservation. Her personal and professional interests are sustainable travel and spreading appreciation and respect for marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

Bedari Collective commits $25 million to World Wildlife Fund for Enduring Earth. * Bedari Collective contribution will support World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) work on sustainable finance, including the development of Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiatives by providing upfront funding to support new global conservation projects. * Enduring Earth applies the PFP model to protect land, ocean and freshwater ecosystems in partnership with governments, Indigenous peoples, communities, local partners, and funders with the goal of supporting conservation of one billion hectares by 2030. * The commitment is the first significant investment by Bedari Collective's newly expanded platform which seeks to enable a next generation of regenerative infrastructure that aligns human progress with planetary health. NEW YORK, September 17, 2026 /3BL/ - Bedari Collective, an impact platform focused on regenerative infrastructure, and World Wildlife Fund, today announced a $25 million commitment from Bedari Collective to support WWF's work on long-term sustainable finance through PFP initiatives. The catalytic grant will support WWF's engagement in Enduring Earth, which is working to expand land, ocean and freshwater conservation around the world. PFP is an approach that secures funding, policy changes and legal requirements for conservation success in a single agreement so that conservation areas are well-managed, sustainably financed, and benefit the communities who depend on them for decades. Since its launch in 2020, Enduring Earth - a collaboration founded by The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts, WWF, ZOMA LAB, with support from Bezos Earth Fund and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation - has worked with more than 200 local partners to durably finance and conserve more than 245 million hectares across nine PFP initiatives in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Gabon, Mexico, Mongolia, and Namibia. "Durable conservation takes funding that lasts, policies that hold, and communities in the lead," said WWF-US President and CEO Carter Roberts. "That's what the Project Finance for Permanence model delivers. Bedari Collective is backing this work at the start, when upfront capital is hardest to find and most consequential. Building on their support, we look forward to mobilizing $2 billion in public and private capital and $2 billion in government commitments to deliver needed resources to frontline communities and support the global 30x30 commitment." "Bedari Collective is committed to developing regenerative infrastructure that strengthens community growth and, at the same time, protects critical ecosystems and supports essential biodiversity. We deploy knowledge, networks and capital into long-term infrastructure and conservation solutions that are community-led, and PFPs apply that approach at scale," said Matt Harris, Founder of Bedari Collective and a Co-Founder of Global Infrastructure Partners. "We are proud to partner with World Wildlife Fund and Enduring Earth to bring this innovative model to new markets across the globe and advance their work with Indigenous and local communities to achieve durable conservation outcomes." Bedari Collective and WWF intend for this commitment to anchor deeper collaboration on shared priorities pursuant to a memorandum of understanding signed in April 2026. WWF will provide technical support to Bedari Collective's ecosystem-scale infrastructure and conservation initiative with the Government of Rwanda, and the parties are developing a regenerative infrastructure joint venture that supports both built and natural infrastructure. About the Bedari Collective Bedari Collective is a leading impact platform advancing regenerative solutions that reimagine how The CSR Company design, build, restore and operate the built and natural infrastructure systems that humanity depends on. Bedari works alongside communities, governments, philanthropists and investors to create the conditions that regenerative solutions need to scale, so that both people and planet can thrive together. To learn more, visit www.bedaricollective.com. About World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Founded in 1961, WWF works to help people and nature thrive. As a global conservation organization, WWF operates in more than 100 countries, partnering with communities, companies, and governments to protect wildlife, conserve vital habitats, and advance sustainable solutions. Grounded in science and driven by collaboration, WWF works to help nature by conserving biodiversity, supporting resilient communities, and addressing climate change. Nearly 1 million people in the United States and more than 5 million globally are WWF members. To learn more, visit www.worldwildlife.org. Media Contacts

Mount Mabu gains community conservation status to protect unique species and strengthen livelihoods. PROMOVE Biodiversidade, funded by the European Union, supports the process that led to the area's recognition and stronger community organisation. A forest that shelters unique species, feeds springs and sustains community life now has formal conservation status. The celebration of Mount Mabu's designation as a Community Conservation Area brought together communities, the Government and partners around a shared responsibility: to protect this heritage and turn its natural value into opportunities for local development. Established by Ministerial Diploma No. 69/2026, published on 24 August, the Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area covers 9,341 hectares. The ceremony that took place on the 11th of September 2026, in Lugela - Zambézia, marks the presentation to communities of a status already approved by the Government of Mozambique, recognising the importance of community participation in protecting and sustainably using natural resources. In his remarks, the Secretary of State for Land and Environment at the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries highlighted the participatory management approach underpinning this conservation category: "Our State manages these conservation areas in a participatory manner, establishing appropriate mechanisms for the participation of public and community entities to ensure the preservation, conservation and restoration of landscapes." He also stressed the importance of "conserving this very important landscape, where we also find a sacred forest and a place of great historical significance." A result of PROMOVE Biodiversidade Formal recognition of the area is one of the main expected results of PROMOVE Biodiversidade's work in Mabu. Funded by the European Union, the programme supported the work that connected scientific knowledge with community organisation and preparation of the legal recognition process. Studies, consultations, boundary demarcation and capacity development for local structures helped create the conditions for this achievement. When work began in Mabu, the landscape did not yet have formal conservation-area status. Alexandra Jorge recalled this point to illustrate the scale of the journey and the need to proceed carefully: conservation and development opportunities should respond to community priorities rather than be imposed from outside. BIOFUND manages the programme's biodiversity conservation, community development and applied research components, working with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), which is responsible for the institutional support component. On the ground, the consortium led by WWF, with ReGeCom and RADEZA, worked with communities and authorities at local, district, provincial and national levels. Speaking on behalf of the WWF-RADEZA-ReGeCom consortium, its representative emphasised the decisive role of communities in conserving the landscape: "This achievement was not only the result of the efforts of those involved, but above all of the communities that have kept Mount Mabu as we find it today, ensuring through their local knowledge, traditions and way of managing the area that it has been maintained." Community organisation is central to this process. The creation of 11 community committees contributed to the establishment of the Community Association for the Conservation of Mount Mabu, CONSERVAMABU. The association gives communities their own structure through which to represent their interests and participate in managing the landscape. European Union representative Anne-Aël Pohu, Team Leader for Resilience and Climate Change, addressed the communities with a message of recognition: "Because this achievement is yours." In her remarks, she added: "The European Union feels deeply honoured to have been able to accompany and support this process." A forest of global importance The Secretary of State also drew attention to the landscape's ecological value: "This mountain, known as the Sky Island, has very important ecological indicators." Rising to around 1,700 metres, Mount Mabu shelters one of southern Africa's most important medium-altitude moist forests and is recognised as a Key Biodiversity Area. Its species include the Mount Mabu pygmy chameleon, Rhampholeon maspictus, whose known distribution is restricted to this mountain. The Mount Mabu bush viper, Atheris mabuensis, and the small gecko Lygodactylus mabu are further examples of the biodiversity that makes this landscape so distinctive. Protecting this forest also matters in everyday life. The springs and watercourses that depend on it support households and agriculture. Keeping the forest intact helps protect soils and the water resources that sustain economic activities within and beyond the area. From conservation to income opportunities PROMOVE Biodiversidade's support for livelihoods includes sustainable agriculture and beekeeping. BIOFUND has also documented the development of bean and coffee value chains in partnership with the private sector. These activities can connect conservation with families' needs, from food production to income earned through sales. Alexandra Jorge pointed to progress in the honey value chain as an encouraging sign that some of the solutions initially discussed with communities can work. BIOFUND's programme director, Alexandra Jorge, highlighted the need to expand the benefits: "We need to scale up beekeeping and sustainable conservation agriculture activities to generate tangible benefits for women, men and different generations." Nature tourism offers another opportunity. The forest, mountain landscapes and bird diversity provide potential for hiking, wildlife observation and visits accompanied by local guides. Developing this offer could create demand for accommodation, food and community products. Realising that potential requires training, access conditions and management that respects the forest and sites of cultural importance. Alexandra Jorge also highlighted the importance of building CONSERVAMABU's capacity to enter into agreements, manage resources and strengthen its autonomy with technical support. She linked that future to learning opportunities: "Education is also crucial; we support two schools and hope that other initiatives will extend that support." The next challenge is to consolidate the gains Anne-Aël Pohu described Mabu as perhaps the most challenging of PROMOVE Biodiversidade's three target areas, particularly in terms of access and logistics, while stressing the landscape's potential for conservation, natural resources, biodiversity and community engagement. She also emphasised that sustainability requires a horizon beyond a single project cycle: "A five-year programme cannot by itself achieve significant change. This will take more time and will require more investment and more engagement in the future." Alexandra Jorge made the same point about continuity: "These actions need much more time than the normal duration of a project - three, four, five or six years." She explained that BIOFUND's ability to connect different sources of financing over time can help preserve what has already been built, reduce duplication and improve efficiency between projects. She summarised the logic simply: "The sum of one plus one is more than two." Anne-Aël Pohu and Alexandra Jorge also highlighted the complementarity of partners. Anne-Aël Pohu referred to private-sector engagement as part of a broader network and said: "Each actor has a role to play and we cannot work in isolation." Alexandra Jorge highlighted, among other contributions, ReGeCom's community mobilisation, Government support and the complementary expertise of WWF and RADEZA. Legal recognition therefore opens a new phase for Mabu rather than marking an endpoint. Consolidating the work supported by PROMOVE Biodiversidade requires continued financing, local management capacity, coordination among partners and viable economic activities. The challenge is to turn the new status and the investments already made into a durable foundation for conserving the forest and gradually extending benefits to the communities that have protected it.