The Conservation Foundation

What The Conservation Foundation does

The Conservation Foundation is a UK-registered charity (number 284656) founded in 1982 by David Shreeve and the late David Bellamy, headquartered in Kensington Church Street, London. Operating with only 7 employees, the foundation runs a portfolio of environmental conservation programmes rather than a unified product platform, including the Great British Elm Projects (Great British Elm Search and Great British Elm Experiment), the Morus Londinium mulberry survey, the We Love Yew heritage campaign, the Young Conservation Leaders Award, Unlocking Nature Educational Workshops, the Tools Shed garden tool recycling initiative, Green Health Awards, Gardening Against the Odds, and Growing a Better Future. Its underlying technology consists of long-running public tree-heritage databases built over 40 years, integrating Google Maps, Bing Maps, and OpenStreetMap for location display, with Microsoft Office Forms and SurveyMonkey used for data collection.

The foundation's business model is donation- and grant-driven rather than commercial: revenue streams include public donations, corporate sponsorship (Foresters Financial, historically Pitney Bowes and O2), and grant funding from bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund. Distribution is delivered through partnerships rather than direct sales — Bloom CIC for school workshops, Foresters Financial for community grants in Bristol, Chelmsford, and Birmingham, prison services for Tools Shed rehabilitation projects, and churches for Green Health initiatives. Programmes are funded via small grant awards (typically £1,000–£2,000) and resource distribution (free elm saplings, refurbished tools, orchard packs).

The foundation serves a horizontal base of UK communities and local groups, schools and young people (ages 7–30), faith-based organisations and healthcare settings, and prison services — addressing heritage tree conservation, environmental education, therapeutic gardening for mental and physical health, youth leadership development, and prison rehabilitation through horticulture. Geographic focus is exclusively the United Kingdom, and reach is achieved by leveraging a multi-stakeholder network that allows a small staff to operate at national scale.

Name

The Conservation Foundation

Legal name

The Conservation Foundation

Website

https://conservationfoundation.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Conservation Foundation is a UK-registered charity that runs heritage-tree conservation programmes (elms, yews, mulberries, orchards), youth environmental awards, therapeutic gardening initiatives, and community grants. Founded in 1982, it serves UK schools, community groups, prisons, and faith organisations through partner-delivered programmes funded by donations and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Forestry (800), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Biodiversity & Habitat Conservation (BPAGAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental Education & Outreach (BPAGAGAH), Forestry & Reforestation (BPAGAGAD)

Keywords

• Environmental conservation programs
• Heritage tree preservation
• Community gardening initiatives
• Conservation education programmes
• Therapeutic horticulture projects

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The foundation relies on public donations to support ongoing projects and launch new environmental initiatives. Donors can give to specific projects or contribute generally to enable new programmes.
2. Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorship: Collaborates with corporate sponsors for project funding and community programmes, including tools donations, financial support, and employee volunteering opportunities.
3. Grant Funding: Receives funding from charitable trusts and foundations including Heritage Lottery Fund, Big Lottery Fund, and corporate sponsors for specific projects and community initiatives.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Conservation Foundation is a UK-registered charity that delivers environmental conservation programmes including heritage tree recording and planting projects for elms, yews and mulberries; educational workshops for schools; therapeutic gardening initiatives in faith and healthcare settings; community gardening grants; garden tool recycling for prisons and community groups; and youth conservation leadership awards. The foundation funds these activities through donations, corporate sponsorships and grants from charitable trusts.

Product overview

The Conservation Foundation operates a portfolio of environmental conservation programs and awards rather than a unified technology product. The core offerings include: (1) Young Conservation Leaders Award - a three-tiered award program for ages 7-30; (2) Unlocking Nature Educational Workshops - school workshops in partnership with Bloom CIC; (3) Tree heritage projects - The Great British Elm Projects, We Love Yew, and The Mulberry Projects that document and conserve heritage trees through public databases and propagation programs; (4) Community engagement programs - Tools Shed (tool recycling), Gardening Against the Odds, Green Health Awards, and Growing a Better Future grants. These programs are independent initiatives unified by the Foundation's mission to 'inspire, enable and celebrate positive environmental action' rather than being modules of a single product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Young Conservation Leaders Award (YCLA) Multi-tiered award programme for young people aged 7-30 to develop conservation leadership skills, comprising Nature Explorers, Conservation Ambassadors and Emerging Conservation Leaders tiers with certification and financial awards.
• Unlocking Nature Educational Workshops Educational workshops delivered in partnership with Bloom CIC for schools at Key Stage 2 and 3, bringing nature into the curriculum and cultivating environmental stewardship.
• The Great British Elm Projects Conservation programme comprising the Great British Elm Search public database of mature elms and the Great British Elm Experiment propagating and distributing disease-resistant saplings to schools and community groups.
• The Mulberry Projects Heritage tree project documenting London's mulberry trees through the Morus Londinium survey with expert verification, recording over 700 mature mulberry sites including Buckingham Palace Gardens' national collection.
• We Love Yew Campaign celebrating Britain's ancient yew trees, recording Veteran, Ancient and Exceptional yews in churchyards with girth measurements and age classifications, and providing certificates for estimated tree ages.
• Tools Shed Garden tool recycling project that refurbishes donated tools for distribution to prisons, schools and community garden projects, providing skills development and community support.
• Green Health Awards Awards programme recognising therapeutic gardening projects on church grounds that promote mental and physical wellbeing, presented at the Green Health Live conferences at Lambeth Palace.
• Gardening Against the Odds Awards programme celebrating unsung gardening heroes who bring joy to others through gardening, honouring the memory of writer Elspeth Thompson.
• Growing a Better Future Environmental community awards partnership with Foresters Financial offering grants (£2,000 for Bee the Change and Grow it Forward projects, £1,000 for Pick Me Up clean-ups) for community environmental projects.
• Heritage Trees: Orchards Project providing orchard packs (Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry trees with stakes and buckle ties) to community gardens to restore orchards lost since 1900 and encourage local biodiversity.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research by King's Fund found that gardening reduces depression, social isolation, anxiety and stress and alleviates symptoms of dementia
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and historical.

• Bloom CICcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Educational CIC partnership delivering Unlocking Nature Educational Workshops to schools at Key Stage 2 and 3. Bloom runs workshops in London's most deprived environments helping young pupils engage with nature and earn conservation certifications.
• Foresters FinancialcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022Partnership with Foresters Financial, a financial service provider with a difference, to support Growing a Better Future Awards programme providing community environmental grants in Bristol, Chelmsford, and Birmingham. Foresters provides funds and volunteer-power for community projects.
• Church TimessecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership with Church Times magazine and Guild of Health and St Raphael for Green Health Live conferences and awards promoting therapeutic gardening in church spaces.
• Guild of Health and St RaphaelsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Co-organiser of Green Health Live conference and awards with The Conservation Foundation, promoting links between nature and human health in faith-based settings.
• Peter Coles (Mulberry Expert)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Mulberry expert Dr Peter Coles led guided walks, research, and authored book on mulberry trees through the Morus Londinium project.
• O2historicalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007First project with O2 in 2007 was O2 Its Your Community awards giving grants for community projects, followed by O2 Think Big awards in 2010 with focus on grants for young people.
• Ancient Yew GroupsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorks very closely with the Ancient Yew Group on yew tree conservation and recording projects.
• Tree RegistersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with Tree Register organisation on yew tree recording and heritage documentation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• National Trust: The National Trust is a UK heritage and conservation charity managing historic properties, gardens, and significant natural estate. It overlaps with The Conservation Foundation on heritage landscape, garden, and conservation programming but operates at vastly greater scale and scope.
• RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds): RSPB is the UK's largest nature conservation charity, with over a million members and a major land-management estate. It is a broad incumbent in UK environmental conservation that overlaps with The Conservation Foundation on community engagement and species/habitat protection, though focused on birds.
• The Wildlife Trusts: The Wildlife Trusts is a federation of 46 UK wildlife trusts and the country's largest voluntary conservation movement, covering broader biodiversity and habitat work. It is a broad incumbent overlapping with The Conservation Foundation on community conservation and habitat protection, but at much larger scale.
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Kew is a UK institution dedicated to botanical science, plant and fungal research, and heritage tree conservation. Its work on heritage trees (including ancient yews) and botanical record-keeping overlaps with the Foundation's tree recording and heritage conservation programmes.

Direct peers

• Trees for Cities: Trees for Cities is a UK charity focused on urban tree planting and greening projects in schools and communities. It overlaps directly with The Conservation Foundation's Great British Elm Experiment (sapling distribution to schools) and Tools Shed community-garden work.
• TCV (The Conservation Volunteers): TCV is a UK volunteering charity focused on environmental conservation through community action, including tree planting, green space improvement, and health-and-nature programmes. Its community volunteering model and Green Gym health initiative are directly comparable to The Conservation Foundation's community-led GTM and therapeutic gardening work.
• Woodland Trust: The Woodland Trust is the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, focused on native tree planting, ancient woodland protection, and community engagement. It is the most direct comparator to The Conservation Foundation's tree heritage and planting programmes at much greater scale (~1,000+ employees and tens of millions in revenue).
• The Tree Council: The Tree Council is a UK charity dedicated to trees and their environments, running national tree-related campaigns, the Tree of the Year competition, and community planting initiatives. It is a direct peer for tree heritage, recording, and planting programmes.

Emerging players

• Thrive: Thrive is a UK charity using gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people with disabilities and ill health, focused on therapeutic horticulture. It directly mirrors the Green Health Awards and GATO therapeutic gardening programmes, making it the closest specialist peer in that niche.

Others

• Foresters Financial: Foresters Financial is a UK financial services provider with a member-benefit and community-grants focus. It is included as an ecosystem partner rather than a competitor, given its existing strategic partnership with The Conservation Foundation on the Growing a Better Future grants programme.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ConservationFdn
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ConservationFdn
• Facebookfacebook.com/conservationfdn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-conservation-fdn
• Instagraminstagram.com/conservationfdn

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Conservation Foundation