Plantlife International

A strategic partnership grant to Plantlife helped the charity to strengthen its approach to data collection and research, creating a new Science and Impact Team,  with four new science and learning roles including an overall Head of Science. This department brought together, coordinated and extended all research-related activities to support and enhance Plantlife’s conservation efforts.

As a result the Science and Impact Team was able to implement a range of internal systems including:

• A research and evidence hub, offering staff resources and tools related to evidence creation and research capacity.
• An activity portal that tracks project funding and delivery, allowing this data to inform new project decisions, building organisational resilience and reducing organisational risk.

The enhanced quality of evidence has strengthened Plantlife’s reporting, demonstrating higher standards of conservation impact.

The roles within the Science and Impact Team have now transitioned into permanent positions and are built into project budgets, securing longer term impact.

Plantlife also built valuable connections with science departments in other charities and numerous academic institutions. These partnerships have supported collaborative research on topics such as AI in conservation and species genetic diversity.

Plantlife co-founded a UK environmental NGO science network with RSPB for sharing knowledge and supporting science-driven conservation efforts in the sector. They also contributed to international discussions on plant conservation at COP16 and co-authored research papers, furthering global advocacy for biodiversity.