New award will help create lasting change for elephants and biodiversity
The recent BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award presented to Save the Elephants (STE) and the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) will supercharge our work across Africa – strengthening partner networks, increasing linkages between our partners, and driving lasting change for elephants and biodiversity.
In an interview with the BBVA Foundation, STE’s CEO Frank Pope called the award “a wonderful recognition” of the entire conservation network behind Save the Elephants and the Elephant Crisis Fund. “Conservation has to be collaborative,” he said. “This is about the future of wildlife, and we’ve got to do this together. We accept this award on behalf of 100+ organisations across 34 African countries.”
Frank Pope speaking at the BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award in Spain. © Courtesy of BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award
The ECF, launched in 2013 as a joint initiative between Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network, invests strategically in conservation organisations and partnerships across Africa – from grassroots groups to established institutions – to ensure African elephant populations can thrive free from the threat of ivory poaching, while fostering harmonious coexistence with local communities. Guided by science, the Elephant Crisis Fund delivers rapid, flexible funding for elephant conservation priorities. Since its inception, the ECF has granted more than USD$40M to 119 different grantees in 44 countries, tackling the ivory trade and human-elephant conflict, and protecting important elephant populations and their landscapes.
Speaking at the awards ceremony in Spain on November 21, Frank emphasised that elephants are key to Africa’s prosperity, due to their ecological role but also as a symbol of biodiversity. “Elephants need a voice in Africa’s development – not as obstacles, but as guardians of ecosystems we depend on for the water we drink and the air we breathe. Because where we lose elephants – and the biodiversity that lives under their umbrella – they are almost impossible to bring back. When species go extinct, that door is slammed shut forever. Elephants represent and defend the wild. When we invest in them, we invest in the wild itself. The elephants have found their voice. Now let’s make sure the world is listening.”
Frank Pope accepting the BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award in Spain. © Courtesy of BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award
The 20th BBVA Foundation Biodiversity Conservation Awards recognised global conservation achievements, including the reintroduction of the northern bald ibis in Spain, protection of Pacific migratory shorebirds, conservation of endangered African elephants, and advances in environmental communication, and were presented at a gala ceremony in Spain.
Read about the awards:
Listen to Frank’s interview with the BBVA: