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The Arteaga Species Discovery Fund, established by biologist Alejandro Arteaga, in collaboration with former President of Ecuador Rosalía Arteaga, is a 10-year mission to raise and allocate $10 million for the discovery of new species in the world’s tropics. Grants will fund 100 emerging taxonomists.
The Arteaga Species Discovery Fund is the world’s first fund devoted exclusively towards the discovery of new species. It seeks to accelerate the rate at which new animals are discovered as well as reward emerging taxonomists in tropical countries.
$10M fundraiser
10-year timeline
100 taxonomists
100 new species
40 countries
The discovery of new species is the most crucial yet embarrassingly underfunded part of wildlife conservation. We are unlikely to be effective towards saving species if we remain unaware they exist.
Alejandro Arteaga
Biologist, Explorer
New species discovery is a discipline that should be encouraged and rewarded as much as, if not more than, other scientific endeavors, as it is the one that shows us the path in animal conservation.
Rosalía Arteaga
Former President of Ecuador
The Arteaga Species Discovery Fund will be implemented through the Khamai Foundation, a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit. Grants will be given to taxonomists under 35 years old residing in tropical countries. Grants range from $2,000 to $10,000 and are distributed through the Bitcoin network.
Implemented through Khamai Foundation
Distributed through the Bitcoin network
“Naming species is at the core of biology. A study is not really complete if it is not attached to the name of the species, and most species that share the planet with us are yet to be described.” |
“A rough estimate suggests that there are upwards of 10 million species on the planet, and we know only a small fraction of them.” |
“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest.” |
What is the cost of discovering and describing a new species? Two Brazilian researchers came out with a figure derived from a survey of ~9% of the Brazilian community of employed and doctoral taxonomists. Here is what they found → |
Their data showed that a biologist described 24.8 species on average during his/her career (varying from 1 year to 46 years for researchers in a permanent position), with average expenditures per year of US$ 97,000. Based on this and other metrics they estimated that... |
It would take around US$ 263 billion to describe all unknown world animal species, which account to over 5.4 million species to discover. So what is the cost of discovering and describing a single species? |
The average cost of discovering and describing just one species is US$ 48,488. It costs three times as much to describe a new vertebrate than an insect, and the costs of describing some large animals exceeds US$ 1,221,291. The budget is large, but... |
The main immediate obstacle to cataloguing animal diversity is the small and inadequate number of taxonomists. To help solve this problem, the Arteaga Species Discovery Fund seeks to increase the number of taxonomists and the rate at which they discover new species by providing funding for their projects. |
Fundraiser
NFT collection: Top 50 photos by Alejandro Arteaga
To help jumpstart the project’s fundraiser, Alejandro has listed his top 50 most impactful images as NFTs on the trading platform OpenSea. Collectors can now own one of these 50 images in perpetuity, or even resell them at any time should they choose to. This is akin to purchasing a 1 of 1 or limited-edition print by Alejandro, but on the digital realm.
$27,960 raised of $1,405,540 goal.
2 backers. 365 days to go.
Sponsor the work needed to discover a new species
Support one of 12 projects centered around new species discovery and you may join the fieldwork stage. As a patron of the research, you will also be honored in the resulting publication, press release, and documentary. Although it is common for new species to be named in honor of patrons, ultimately the name is at the sole discretion of the authors.
$121,500 raised of $4,250,000 goal.
7 backers. 587 days to go.
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