Arcadia Fund

The Arcadia Fund is a charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom, co-founded in 2001 by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

The Arcadia Fund supports work to preserve endangered cultural heritage, protect endangered ecosystems and promote access to knowledge. It aims to defend the complexity of human culture and the natural world so that coming generations can build a vibrant, resilient and green future.

The Arcadia Fund provided USD 54.4 million for development in 2021 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2020, this amount represents an increase of 179.2% in real terms.

In 2021, the Arcadia Fund provided all of its grants through bilateral channels, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society (USD 32.9 million) and universities, research institutes, or think tanks (USD 20.1 million).

In 2021, the Arcadia Fund’s development finance was primarily focused on Europe and Asia (including the Middle East). USD 10.1 million was allocated to Europe and USD 8.2 million to Asia (excluding the Middle East), accounting respectively for 18.6% and 15% of development finance. A sum of USD 31.6 million (58.1%) was unspecified by region in 2021.

In 2021, 14.1% of development finance went to the top 10 recipients. The Arcadia Fund’s most significant recipients included Indonesia (USD 5 million), West Bank and Gaza Strip (USD 1.9 million) and Pakistan (USD 0.7 million). Moreover, 85.9% of its development finance was not allocated by country.

The Arcadia Fund allocated 7.7 of its development finance (14.1%) to lower middle-income countries in 2021, followed by NA (0%) in 2021, with the remainder of USD 46.7 million (85.9%) unallocated by income group.

All financing provided by the Arcadia Fund for development was allocated to general environmental protection, including biodiversity conservation and protection of unique sites and heritage.

In 2021, the Arcadia Fund provided the largest shares of its contributions to the goal of life on land (SDG 15), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) and partnerships for the goals (SDG 17) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

Official website: http://www.arcadiafund.org.uk/

The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, the Sustainable Development Goal focus of private development finance, channels of delivery, unspecified/unallocated allocations, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.

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