Introducing the Lamu Environment Foundation
The Lamu Environment Foundation (LEF) was founded in 2021 by lovers of the Lamu Archipelago. Together they had a desire to support local environmental and conservation initiatives to protect, preserve and restore the natural beauty of Lamu Archipelago for generations to come.
Thus, the Lamu Environment Foundation was born!
LEF follows the tried and tested model created by the Conservation Collective of activating a network of interested donors and bringing them together to fund grassroots environmental conservation initiatives to build capacity within communities and protect the environment.
Why Lamu Archipelago?
Lamu archipelago is a jewel in the crown of Kenya’s coastal region. Boasting over 130km of coastline and varied ecosystems Lamu is an exciting combination of beautiful natural landscapes, diverse flora and fauna and spectacular marine ecosystems.
These diverse habitats all require protection, preservation and restoration to bring about long-lasting sustainable change.
An extensive scoping report was undertaken, you can get a copy of the scoping report here. From that report, it became clear the key areas of focus the foundation will fund include solid waste management, mangrove protection, marine conservation, land regeneration and restoration and protecting biodiversity.
How we work?
All funds raised by our generous donors and business partners go towards supporting environmental campaigns in Lamu Archipelago.
We strongly believe that by supporting local environmental and conservation groups we can make a positive impact and bring about long-lasting positive environmental change.
Our way is to…
- Connect those who love Lamu with those who are working to protect, preserve and restore that it.
- Involve, empower and strengthen local communities through a bottom-up integrated approach to create long-lasting change, bolster civil society and build capacity by providing projects with vital funds to scale their impact.
- Support local initiatives and identify the framework and skills needed to tackle specific local environmental problems.
- Collaborate with the global Conservation Collective network to access piloted and proven solutions.
- Mobilise funding by encouraging individuals to get involved and support their local environment.
- Tap into our network of experts to ensure we support the projects offering the largest returns for nature.
- Leverage co-funding opportunities with larger foundations, national or international organisations.
- Provide a proven and transparent channel for donors to support their local environment.
Who, what, where and how do we make our grants...
We support local non-profit organizations, associations, clubs or unions, social cooperative enterprises and other local bodies, including research centres. Non-local applicants, already active in the area or experts within that field are also eligible for grants and strategic partnerships if they prove that their work will build capacity within the community and create an impact on the ground.
Applicants must display strong and effective leadership and emphasise an integrated bottom-up approach, by consulting, mobilising and involving local communities to demonstrate positive community impact.
Applications for funding from the LEF should work within one of the Fund’s key focus areas.
Proposed projects will be clear and compelling, with the objective to create measurable and sustainable long-term results, build capacity and encourage participation.
The proposed activities should be visible to leverage additional support from other funding sources. Finally, the project must demonstrate a positive impact and should focus their area of work within the Lamu Archipelago.
Applications will be approved by our Steering Committee who meet quarterly to discuss project applications and the foundation strategy. If you would like to apply for a grant you can either apply for a grant online or download the grant application form here.