The Lion's Share Fund

OverviewLion's Share Fund

A multi-partner platform for private sector corporations, philanthropists, foundations, and global/local non-governmental organizations, the Lion’s Share Fund tackles current wildlife conservation and animal welfare crises by redirecting advertising funds to augment biodiversity and sustainable animal-care practices.

Learn more Visit the fund website

OverviewIn Focus

Status:

Latest reports:

Fund established:

OverviewKey results

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OverviewKey financial figures

OverviewContributions

The work of the The Lion's Share Fund are possible thanks to the generous contributions by public and private sector partners

ContributorsMulti-stakeholder partnerships

The work of the The Lion's Share Fund is possible thanks to the efforts of . These resources are pooled and channelled to participating organizations to promote joint action and multi-stakeholder partnerships, making a difference on the ground.

OverviewPartner organizations receiving funding

OverviewSDG Contribution

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CONTACT INFO

ObjectivesFund scope

The Earth is facing its sixth mass extinction: up to 100,000 species could soon be wiped out. This threat is reversible, however, provided the world’s largest corporations are actively on board. Fighting alone we will not get far but, together, we can rewrite the future and protect the animal kingdom.

A multi-partner platform, the Lion’s Share Fund supports private and public sector partners in the design and roll-out of innovative and inclusive ideas that make a difference to animal welfare and biodiversity. When an image of an animal or the wilderness is used to promote goods or services there is no monetary kick-back—unlike people who appear in advertising campaigns, animals and their habitat receive no remuneration from advertisers.

Lion’s Share works to change this practice by shifting corporate visions and building sustainable, peaceful and compassionate societies that are more empathetic to animals and nature, and committed to maintaining, restoring, and enhancing endangered biodiversity and ecosystem services. This is accomplished through four funding streams.

Harnessing corporate leadership and consumer support helps the Fund not only accelerate behavioural change on environmental concerns but also reverse biodiversity loss. Partners of Lion’s Share defend the need for healthy wildlife populations and habitats, and instill a renewed compassion for all animals. Their promotion helps increase individual and collective appreciation for nature, including the multitude of (unspoken) ways it contributes to equitable and sustainable development for humans.

The four funding streams
The Lion Cub. Small grants for community-based action and grassroots work.
Transformative partnerships. Long-term programmatic support for wildlife and habitat conservation in middle and low-income countries with significant outcomes achieved through coordinated and concerted action among members of civil society, the private sector, and government.
Crisis-flash point. Responding to a wildlife crisis requiring urgent, targeted assistance, including emergencies related to restoring critical habitats for wildlife and supporting time-sensitive actions.
The Lion’s Share award. Recognizes and promotes successful conservation and animal welfare initiatives by individuals or through innovation, entrepreneurship, bravery, conservation advertisements, and advocacy campaigns.

Theory of change and strategic framework
The problem: Rapid loss of wildlife and habitat erodes the Earth’s natural ecosystems along with human well-being and development—a state of decline that has been underway since the early 1970s. Losses are caused by a cascading set of direct and indirect causes such as: habitat loss; fragmentation and degradation; pollution; encroachment; climate change; killing of animals (including over-exploitation, poaching for illegal wildlife trade including exotic pets, and retaliatory killing); irresponsible pet ownership; market, governance, and policy failures; community and institutional failures (or gaps), and social and cultural failures. Detached from nature and unaware of the significance of biodiversity loss, people continue to engage in unsustainable consumption patterns and social practices that deepen inequalities and chip away at animal and environmental ecosystems. Given the challenges, social and political policies and measures must address all drivers if the 2030 Agenda, the ones that target nature, consumerism, and the environment in particular. This means safeguarding and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems through expanded, inclusive, and equitable conservation approaches that correct market distortions, are championed by governments and business leaders, and result in a continuum of practices. The Lion’s Share platform helps ensure that nature and animal welfare are protected at the same time development objectives are met.

Theory of change and strategic framework

The problem: Rapid loss of wildlife and habitat erodes the Earth’s natural ecosystems along with human well-being and development—a state of decline that has been underway since the early 1970s. Losses are caused by a cascading set of direct and indirect causes such as: habitat loss; fragmentation and degradation; pollution; encroachment; climate change; killing of animals (including over-exploitation, poaching for illegal wildlife trade including exotic pets, and retaliatory killing); irresponsible pet ownership; market, governance, and policy failures; community and institutional failures (or gaps), and social and cultural failures.

Detached from nature and unaware of the significance of biodiversity loss, people continue to engage in unsustainable consumption patterns and social practices that deepen inequalities and chip away at animal and environmental ecosystems. Given the challenges, social and political policies and measures must address all drivers if the 2030 Agenda, the ones that target nature, consumerism, and the environment in particular. This means safeguarding and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems through expanded, inclusive, and equitable conservation approaches that correct market distortions, are championed by governments and business leaders, and result in a continuum of practices.

The Lion’s Share platform helps ensure that nature and animal welfare are protected at the same time development objectives are met.

GovernanceGovernance arrangements

Executive Board

As part of its responsibilities, the Executive Board sets the strategic direction of the Fund, provides a platform for dialogue, gives high-level strategic guidance to the Steering Committee, oversees annual reviews, and endorses revisions to the global theory of change.

Steering Committee

Ensures effective management oversight of all operational and technical aspects of the initiative. The primary responsibilities of the Committee include, among others, overseeing implementation of activities; reviewing performance; approving portfolio revisions; reviewing policies and rules of procedure; endorsing Lion’s Share investment plans and eligibility criteria, and approving direct budget costs.

Secretariat

Members of the Secretariat hold both technical and operational expertise, which are used to manage the approval of initiative/project/programme proposals in accordance with investment plans and allocation envelopes as agreed upon by the Steering Committee. The Secretariat guarantees that successful proposals are developed in accordance with programme submission guidelines and Standard Operations Manual procedures.

Administrative Agent

Participating Organizations receive funds through the Administrative Agent, Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) Office. The Administrative Agent is responsible for the receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors, disbursement of funds to Participating Organizations, and consolidation and dissemination of progress reports to donors.

Participating Organizations

Programme implementation is the responsibility of Participating Organizations. Each organization is programmatically and financially responsible for resources received.

ContributorsContributors

The work of is possible thanks to the efforts of contributors. Since together they have contributed . In the annual contributions amounted to .

ContributorsContributors

FinancialsFinancial Status

Total as of Values in US$

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Interest (from Participating Organizations)
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Transferred to Participating Organizations
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FinancialsDelivery Analysis

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FinancialsProjects by Country

FinancialsProjects by Theme

Projects
The Lion's Share Fund

The Lion's Share Fund is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

The Lion's Share Fund

ProjectsFund's projects

For more complete project financial information please click on Financials

OverviewCountry Impact

Contributions to trust funds administered by the MPTF Office are pooled with other partner resources to achieve greater impact and leverage the SDGs. This map provides a geographical breakdown of all investments.

* The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations or UNDP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

> $55M $55M - $25M $25M - $5M < $5M

Budget amounts in US$

Results

Bringing together private sector corporations, philanthropists, foundations, and global/local non-governmental organizations, the Lion’s Share Fund supports the redirection of advertising funds to improve biodiversity measures, wildlife conservation, and animal welfare. By shifting corporate visions and consumer spending habits we can create sustainable, peaceful and compassionate societies committed to maintaining, restoring, and enhancing endangered biodiversity and ecosystems.

ResultsKey results

ResultsSDG Contribution

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ResultsAnnual progress reports

NewsImpact

December 31, 2021

DocumentsLegal documents

Annex A Lion's Share ToR_final 13 June 2018.pdf...

DocumentsFund level reports

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ContactsPoints of contact

Policy and Programme

Midori Paxton, UNDP GEF Head of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, Email: midori.paxton@undp.org
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Director and Executive Coordinator, Nature, Climate and Energy, UNDP, Email: pradeep.kurululasuriya@undp.org
Patricia Purcell, Senior Advisor, Nature, Climate and Energy, UNDP, Email: patricia.purcell@undp.org

Fund Administrative Agent

Assia Sidibe, Senior Portfolio Manager, Email: assia.sidibe1@undp.org
Sean Chen, Portfolio Associate, Email: sean.chen@undp.org

ContactsSocial Media

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