Katy Scholfield

About Katy Scholfield

Adviser

Katy Scholfield is the Director of Strategic Grantmaking for the Great Apes and Gibbons Programme at Arcus Foundation.

Katy was based at Synchronicity Earth for 10 years, where she led efforts to centre Indigenous and community rights and the revival and protection of biocultural diversity across the organisation. During this time, she played a key role in developing Synchronicity Earth’s forest grantmaking in Africa, Brazil and Papua New Guinea, as well as establishing collaborative funding initiatives to amplify conservation impact.

Prior to this, Katy held various conservation and development posts before completing her PhD using a case study of mountain gorilla conservation to explore how different people and their ideas are included or excluded in conservation.

She also holds a bachelor’s degree in environment, ecology, and economics from the University of York and a master’s in environment and development from the University of Manchester. Katy has sat on the executive committee of the AgroEcology Fund since 2015 and has a strong interest in how agroecology can help conservation re-imagine its relationship with agriculture to support all species to flourish. Katy joined the board of Synchronicity Earth USA in 2021.

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Katy Scholfield

Katy Scholfield

Adviser
Biocultural Diversity Programme
Katy Scholfield is the Director of Strategic Grantmaking for the Great Apes and Gibbons Programme at Arcus Foundation. Prior to starting this role in 2021, Katy was based at Synchronicity Earth for 10 years, where she led efforts to centre Indigenous and community rights and the revival and protection of biocultural diversity across the organisation. During this time, she played a key role in developing Synchronicity Earth’s forest grantmaking in Africa, Brazil and Papua New Guinea, as well as establishing collaborative funding initiatives to amplify conservation impact. Prior to this, Katy held various conservation and development posts before completing her PhD using a case study of mountain gorilla conservation to explore how different people and their ideas are included or excluded in conservation. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in environment, ecology, and economics from the University of York and a master’s in environment and development from the University of Manchester. Katy has sat on the executive committee of the AgroEcology Fund since 2015 and has a strong interest in how agroecology can help conservation re-imagine its relationship with agriculture to support all species to flourish. Katy joined the board of Synchronicity Earth USA in 2021.
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A new Biocultural Diversity Programme

The Biocultural Diversity Programme (formerly the Flourishing Diversity Programme) is a new Synchronicity Earth programme that supports partners to defend indigenous and community territories; protect and revive biological and cultural diversity; and try to increase the focus on ‘diversity’ more broadly within conservation and development work and funding. Here, our Head of Biocultural Diversity, [...]

By |2022-06-15T05:37:33+00:00February 16th, 2021|Agroecology, Approach, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Community, Culture, Flourishing Diversity|Comments Off on A new Biocultural Diversity Programme

Cameroonian Environmental Activist arrested

Cameroonian environmental activist Nasako Besingi was arrested on Monday morning (25th September) in Mundemba, southwest Cameroon, at the headquarters of his NGO, SEFE (Struggle to Economize the Future Environment). The premises are reported to have been ransacked and Nasako arrested by a large group of police and soldiers and taken away in the back [...]

By |2018-08-31T04:31:39+00:00September 26th, 2017|Advocacy, Congo Basin, Threats|0 Comments

A new Congo Basin Programme

This Autumn Synchronicity Earth launches its new Congo Basin Programme! The programme is the result of several years’ work by our team to develop a strategy which aims to protect the ecological and cultural integrity of this important region. After supporting groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the last five years, [...]

By |2018-08-31T04:32:24+00:00August 10th, 2017|Congo Basin, Conservation, Programmes|0 Comments

Where we work and why: Congo Basin

Synchronicity Earth partners with six groups (1) working in the Congo Basin, the majority in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Their activities range from challenging large scale hydropower and agribusiness concessions in important forest and riverine areas through to engaging parliamentarians to help give a voice to indigenous peoples. But why the Congo Basin? [...]

By |2018-08-31T16:46:13+00:00February 13th, 2017|Congo Basin, Conservation, Programmes, Threats|0 Comments
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