NEW REPORT DETAILS THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF USAID'S CLOSURE ON GLOBAL CONSERVATION

A groundbreaking 166-page report by One Earth Partners—founded by former senior USAID environmental leaders Monica Bansal and Hadas Kushnir—documents the severe global fallout following the abrupt dismantling of USAID and the cancellation of roughly 5,200 foreign assistance contracts.

The sudden removal of nearly $1 billion in annual funding for biodiversity, climate adaptation, and clean energy has left long-running projects in fragile ecosystems floundering or completely collapsed. Drawing from survey data and interviews with 150 local experts across Bangladesh, Peru, Kenya, Colombia, and Vietnam, the analysis exposes a fragmented, high-risk landscape for global nature protection.

KEY FALLOUT POINTS DOCUMENTED IN THE REPORT:

• Crippled Anti-Poaching & Corridor Protection: In Kenya, the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Organization was forced to cut its budget by 72% and lay off key staff, halting plans for new conservancies that would have secured vital migratory corridors for elephants. In Mozambique, lead donor funding for anti-poaching operations at Gorongosa National Park was terminated.

• Deforestation & Amazonian Satellite Monitoring: Critical initiatives that trained Colombian and Peruvian officials to track deforestation via satellite data—alongside crop substitution programs for coca farmers—were abruptly halted.

• Policy Backsliding & Community Loss: From stalling long-standing wetland revenue-sharing agreements in Bangladesh's Baikka Beel to stranding over 70,000 rural land tenure cases in Colombia, the funding void has eroded environmental governance and heightened risks for local defenders.

• A Call to Bridge the Funding Gap: One Earth Partners has published a vetted list of 100 stranded high-impact conservation projects actively seeking new philanthropic and public funders to step in and save decades of progress.

BUILDING RESILIENT, DIVERSIFIED FUNDING FOR THE WILD

This report serves as a stark reminder that species protection cannot depend on single, top-down political decisions. Ensuring the long-term survival of endangered wildlife requires resilient funding networks, strong community land ownership, and unwavering frontline support.