Elephant Crisis Fund Wins Prestigious 20th BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award for Biodiversity Conservation
[Tuesday, 23 September 2025] The Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) has been named the winner of the 20th BBVA Foundation Worldwide Award for Biodiversity Conservation, receiving international recognition for its groundbreaking and sustained contribution to protecting elephants across the African continent.
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.
With the conservation situation for elephants varying greatly between ecosystems, the Elephant Crisis Fund has helped protect elephants across the continent. From anti poaching to landscape planning, the ECF’s partners are creating a sustainable future for elephants. In some areas, like Chinko in the Central African Republic, elephants have been brought back from the very brink of extinction to a point where they now have the potential to repopulate huge, wild landscapes.
“Receiving this award is truly an honour, and a recognition that our vision of building a continental network to secure a future for elephants is bearing fruit. Experienced, deeply rooted, and locally connected organisations are the key to creating meaningful change at the scale we need across Africa. We remain committed to strengthening this network and injecting support where it is most needed. Together we are helping elephants across the continent with the challenges they face,” said Frank Pope, CEO, Save the Elephants.
The BBVA Foundation has prioritised nature protection for over two decades, supporting research, field conservation actions, and public education initiatives that promote environmental awareness and conservation values. The annual awards recognise and celebrate the work of conservation organisations, institutions, and agencies that advance environmental protection policies and projects safeguarding our natural heritage.
Over 20 editions, the awards have honored a diverse range of organisations and public agencies that successfully translate cutting-edge scientific knowledge into concrete conservation action. The program also recognises specialised journalists and communicators who inform the public and enhance understanding of today’s most pressing environmental challenges.
About Save the Elephants and the Elephant Crisis Fund
Save the Elephants works to secure a future for elephants. Specialising in elephant research, it provides scientific insights into elephant behaviour, intelligence, and long distance movements and applies them to the challenges of elephant survival and harmonious coexistence with humanity. High-tech tracking helps plan landscapes while low-tech beehive fences, among other tools, provide people /communities living with elephants with protection as well as income. Education and outreach programmes share these insights with local communities as the true custodians of this rich heritage. Save the Elephants (www.savetheelephants.org) runs the Elephant Crisis Fund (www.elephantcrisisfund.org) in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Network, providing flexible and responsive support to NGOs combatting the ivory trade, promoting human-elephant coexistence, and protecting elephant landscapes.
Press Contacts
For further information, please contact:
Kent Ngibuini – Head of Strategic Communications, Save the Elephants. Email: kent@savetheelephants.org