Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI)

It’s got a little cramped in the David Attenborough Building swift box as the two resident chicks have rapidly grown. There’s been plenty of limbering up, preening and, of course, resting, as they prepare to take their first flight one day soon. They have been affectionately named Scree and Mimi following a building-wide competition, and attributed personalities - with Scree often peering out of the nest box looking eager to take on the world, and Mimi demonstrating a calmer, more patient demeanour. Stay tuned to our YouTube channel and you might just catch the very moment they bid us farewell for this year: https://lnkd.in/e3vXKY_c

CCI’s Collaborative Fund for Conservation is funding 12 new projects.👏🏽🥳 Bringing together partners from across the CCI network, the projects aim to deepen understanding of biodiversity challenges and foster collaboration across disciplines and institutions. Each project contributes to building knowledge, partnerships, and practical approaches to protecting and restoring biodiversity in diverse contexts. Launched in 2009, the fund was established to overcome a significant barrier to cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary working, namely the lack of accessible funding to initiate such collaborations. Since the fund’s inception it has supported 76 projects, dispensing over £4 million and catalysing some of CCI’s most influential collaborations. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eqiXpf_b Credit: Becky Green

Great turnout on a very hot day for an excellent talk by Priyanka Das on her research on the changing political economy of tea in northern India and how it is shaping human-wildlife interactions. Bringing it closer to home, she gave some helpful advice on the sourcing of sustainable tea for the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) David Attenborough Building! Main message: use local schemes that are more meaningful than global certification which doesn't mean much on the ground in places like West Bengal.

🌍 It's London Climate Action Week.   Throughout the week, CCI partners are coming together to reinforce a shared message: nature is fundamental to climate resilience, economic security, and public wellbeing.   Across sectors and disciplines, CCI partners are contributing through their own expertise, leadership and areas of influence, demonstrating how nature-based solutions can help address some of the most pressing challenges facing society today.   Over the coming days, we'll be highlighting activities, insights and opportunities to get involved, shared by our partners, such as UNEP-WCMC.   We look forward to showcasing the collective action, innovation and collaboration helping to build a more resilient, nature-positive future.  

As one of the most divisive debates in conservation today, The Hunt: Into the Grey aims to open up the challenging topic of trophy hunting. What begins as a personal reckoning with trophy hunting for filmmaker Sarah Roberts evolves into a nuanced exploration of morality, survival, and the fragile balance between people and wildlife. 🎬 CCI Film Screening: ‘The Hunt: Into the Grey’ with Sarah Roberts and Jamma Conservation & Communities 📅 6.30pm, Wednesday 20 May 📌 Babbage Lecture Theatre, Cambridge (drinks in the David Attenborough Building next door at 5.30pm). There's still time to register here: https://lnkd.in/e2PEDXnx

🎬 CCI Film Screening: ‘The Hunt: Into the Grey’ with Sarah Roberts and Jamma Conservation & Communities 📅 6.30pm, Wednesday 20 May 📌 Babbage Lecture Theatre, Cambridge (drinks in the David Attenborough Building next door at 5.30pm) This film brings together voices rarely heard in the same conversation, from conservationists and scientists to activists and community leaders on the frontlines of human-wildlife conflict. Provocative, uncomfortable, and deeply human, 'The Hunt: Into the Grey' challenges assumptions and invites debate long after the credits roll. Sarah will be joined by Dilys Roe (IIED), Charles A. Emogor (Dept of Zoology, University of Cambridge), Molly R.C. Brown (IUCN) and professional hunter Willem Badenhorst to debate whether a practice we instinctively reject can ever play a role in protecting wildlife and supporting local communities. Find out more and register here: https://lnkd.in/e2PEDXnx Watch the trailer below:

Introducing CCI’s Global Insights Board 🌍 The Global Insights Board is an advisory group established to support CCI’s vision and strategic priorities in an increasingly dynamic and complex world. We’re incredibly grateful to our Board members, who bring diverse perspectives, expertise, and experiences from across the globe. Learn more about each member on our website: https://lnkd.in/e_pbF6Dq

Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of our proud Patron and the world’s greatest advocate for the natural world, Sir David Attenborough 🍃 Together with our partners, including the University of Cambridge, we thank Sir David for a lifetime of inspiration, curiosity, and dedication to protecting life on Earth 🌎 Happy 100th Birthday, Sir David! BirdLife International British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Cambridge Conservation Forum Fauna & Flora IUCN RSPB TRAFFIC - the wildlife trade monitoring network Tropical Biology Association UNEP-WCMC Wildlife Conservation Society

We're delighted to be hosting this discussion with Najma, Karen and Thiago on Eco-Social Contracts for Sustainable and Just Futures! Join us on 19 May by registering here: https://lnkd.in/ejNE_J7M