Nature protection

To pro­tect nature from explo­ita­tion and des­truc­tion, Somaha Foun­da­tion advo­ca­tes the diver­sity of spe­cies and their habi­tats, espe­ci­ally aqua­tic life.

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Challenge

Nature is facing great chal­lenges: Explo­ita­tion of land and sea, cli­mate change, incre­asing pol­lu­tion and the spread of inva­sive spe­cies are lea­ding to a glo­bal loss of spe­cies and habi­tat diver­sity. Gro­wing demand for resour­ces is put­ting incre­asing pres­sure on natu­ral eco­sys­tems. In par­ti­cu­lar, water bodies and their bio­di­ver­sity are under threat from pol­lu­tion, con­s­truc­tion and water abs­trac­tion.

Solution

Somaha Foun­da­tion sup­ports the resi­li­ence of spe­cies and the rege­ne­ra­tive capa­city of habi­tats.

In pur­suit of this, the foun­da­tion is com­mit­ted on three levels:

  • Sup­port­ing prac­ti­cal nature con­ser­va­tion to ensure eco­lo­gi­cal pro­ces­ses.
  • Expan­ding (sci­en­ti­fic) know­ledge to deepen and share know­ledge of eco­lo­gi­cal sys­tems.
  • Crea­ting eco­no­mic incen­tive struc­tures to streng­then the sus­tainable use of resour­ces.

Somaha Foun­da­tion col­la­bo­ra­tes with Swiss fun­ding part­ners on a long-term basis. Within these insti­tu­tio­nal part­ner­ships, Somaha Foun­da­tion focu­ses on the joint deve­lo­p­ment of inter­ven­ti­ons to address spe­ci­fic chal­lenges and, among other things, sup­ports con­cep­tual frame­works and struc­tures. The goal is com­pre­hen­sive capa­city deve­lo­p­ment in local orga­niza­ti­ons and ulti­m­ately their ope­ra­tio­nal and finan­cial inde­pen­dence.

In the theme of nature pro­tec­tion, fun­ding requests can also be sub­mit­ted for indi­vi­dual pro­jects. The focus is pri­ma­rily on young orga­niza­ti­ons with new, inno­va­tive ideas.

Theory of Change

The theory of change explains in more detail how Somaha Foundation’s fun­ding intends to con­tri­bute to the pro­tec­tion of nature from explo­ita­tion and des­truc­tion in line with the cor­re­spon­ding SDGs.

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Somaha Foundation

Somaha Foun­da­tion deploys its resour­ces through pro­fes­sio­nal exper­tise, cross-sec­tor rela­ti­onships, and finan­cial means. This way, it sup­ports Swiss fun­ding part­ners ope­ra­ting in Switz­er­land and abroad.

Swiss funding partners

Through the sup­port of Somaha Foun­da­tion, Swiss fun­ding part­ners can improve their qua­lity, streng­then the rele­vance of their acti­vi­ties, and increase their reach with addi­tio­nal resour­ces. They imple­ment their own pro­jects or work with local orga­niza­ti­ons on a long-term basis.

Local organizations

In col­la­bo­ra­tion with Swiss fun­ding part­ners, local orga­niza­ti­ons deve­lop their capa­ci­ties, ther­eby streng­thening their lea­der­ship and resi­li­ence. By shif­ting decis­ion-making power from a hig­her level to the local level, their inde­pen­dence is enhan­ced.

Local orga­niza­ti­ons deve­lop, share, and apply their capa­ci­ties in ope­ra­tio­nal pro­jects and pro­grams. This takes place at three levels:

  • At the first level, by sup­port­ing prac­ti­cal nature con­ser­va­tion pro­jects to con­serve wild­life, manage inva­sive spe­cies, or con­nect habi­tats.
  • At the second level, by expan­ding (sci­en­ti­fic) know­ledge through rese­arch and know­ledge sha­ring.
  • At the third level, by crea­ting eco­no­mic incen­tive struc­tures. The aim is to moti­vate peo­ple and orga­niza­ti­ons to act in an eco­lo­gi­cally sound man­ner.

Focu­sing on these three levels aims to streng­then the resi­li­ence of spe­cies and the rege­ne­ra­tive capa­city of habi­tats.

Outcome

In the theme of nature pro­tec­tion, Somaha Foun­da­tion aims to streng­then the resi­li­ence of spe­cies and the rege­ne­ra­tive capa­city of habi­tats:

  • By sup­port­ing prac­ti­cal nature con­ser­va­tion pro­jects, eco­lo­gi­cal pro­ces­ses are ensu­red.
  • The fur­ther advance­ment of (sci­en­ti­fic) know­ledge should create or deepen know­ledge of eco­lo­gi­cal sys­tems, which will then be dis­se­mi­na­ted.
  • The crea­tion of eco­no­mic incen­tive struc­tures pro­mo­tes the sus­tainable use of resour­ces. Soil, water, air and bio­di­ver­sity resour­ces should be used in a way that ensu­res their long-term avai­la­bi­lity and health.

Impact

Somaha Foundation’s objec­tive is to pro­tect nature from explo­ita­tion and des­truc­tion. Through its fun­ding, the Foun­da­tion con­tri­bu­tes to the achie­ve­ment of the United Nati­ons Sus­tainable Deve­lo­p­ment Goals, in par­ti­cu­lar SDG 6 (clean water and sani­ta­tion), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land).

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Our other themes

Open and diverse society
Peo­ple in need