About Us
Introduction
The Wallacea Trust supports science-led nature recovery and protection. We fund field-based studentships that build tomorrow’s conservation and ecology leaders; we created one of the globally leading methodologies for accurately measuring and reporting biodiversity improvements; and we make targeted donations to on-the-ground conservation efforts.
Together, we help ensure high-quality nature outcomes are both measured and realised; with transparency, rigour and community impact at the heart of everything we do.
Who we are
The Wallacea Trust is a UK-registered charity dedicated to supporting meaningful biodiversity conservation through investment in people, projects, and practical applications.
We are a small organisation with a clear focus: enabling better ecological outcomes for communities and environments around the world.
What We Stand For
Supporting people
Investing in the next generation of conservation leaders
Impact on the ground
Funding projects that deliver measurable benefits for nature
Measuring what matters
Maintaining an open-access methodology to track and report biodiversity change
Meet the Team
CHAIR: Dr Christopher Richards
Dr Christopher Richards has a wide portfolio of interests in agriculture and related industries. He is currently Chairman of Plant Health Care plc, a leading provider of naturally derived plant growth enhancers and of Nanoco Group plc, a nanotechnology company.
He was previously CEO, then Chairman of Arysta LifeSciences, a leading agrochemical company. Chris founded the Instituto Javari, an NGO working with local communities to conserve rainforest in the Javari River in Brazil. He farms in the West of England. Chris holds an MA in zoology and a D. Phil. in ecology from Oxford University.
DEPUTY CHAIR: Dr Niall Mccann
Niall studied zoology at the University of Bristol, and completed his PhD in the conservation of Baird’s tapir in Honduras at Cardiff University. In his career as a zoologist Niall has specialised in working with endangered species. Niall made his television debut in 2011 and his wildlife documentary programmes are aired all over the world.
Niall has conducted research in countries including the UK, Italy, Mauritius, Bolivia, Namibia, Guyana and Honduras. As well as his involvement in research, Niall is actively engaged in ongoing conservation projects in Honduras, Zimbabwe and Indonesia, where he is working on the protection of National Parks and other Protected Areas.
TRUSTEE: Charlotte Palmer
Charlotte worked for 10 years with biodiversity NGO Operation Wallacea before leaving to become Nature Manager for the Greater Lincolnshire Nature Partnership, a DEFRA accredited body that is leading on introducing wildlife back into the UK countryside through the new govt greening schemes. Charlotte has been involved in biodiversity research across the globe including in Dominica, Honduras, China and Indonesia, and she presented the data needed for the Dominican Amazon Parrot to be upgraded to Critically Endangered. Charlotte now leads the West Norfolk Nature Network, an ambitious Landscape Recovery project.
TRUSTEE: Nathaniel Page
Nat Page is Director of Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania, an NGO dedicated to protecting Romania’s high biodiversity farmed landscapes by working with the small-scale farming communities that maintain them. He actively promotes ‘protection through use’ of the biodiversity of man-made landscapes, by developing economic incentives from the market (via products linked to biodiversity; diversification such as ecotourism; and intelligently designed state support payments).
He is involved in the development of farmer-friendly nature conservation policies at national and at EU levels. He studied Zoology at Oxford University, and then Chinese and Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. After 14 years in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, serving in various postings including Thailand and Romania, he returned to his original nature conservation interests in 1995. He combines conservation with practical farming; he is owner and manager of an all-pasture beef farm in the west of England.
TRUSTEE: Prof Richard Field
Dr Field is a Professor of Biogeography at the University of Nottingham. He read Geography at the University of Oxford before taking an MSc in Ecology at the University of Durham and a PhD in Ecology from Imperial College London. He has been Secretary of the International Biogeography Society since 2011 and is Editor in Chief of leading academic journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
His research interests focus on biodiversity and range from purely theoretical (e.g. the causes of the latitudinal biodiversity gradients) to much more applied and conservation oriented such as voluntary biodiversity credit markets.
TRUSTEE: Amy Cowdell
Amy Cowdell is a partner at Shakespeare Martineau solicitors specialising in agricultural law, with more than 17 years’ experience in advising land owners on all kinds of property related affairs.
She advises on a variety of matters such as buying and selling farms, estates and woodland, advising on agricultural tenancies and landowners on various diversification projects such as selling land for development and commercial leases. Amy has a keen interest in natural capital projects for farmers and landowners, as the new dawn of farming and government policy of “public money for public good” begins to take hold in the UK.
Amy is also a leading figure in agricultural organisations across the East Midlands including Women in Agriculture and for the Farmer’s Community Network (FCN) Nottingham.
SECRETARY (non-Trustee): Dr Dan Exton
Dan has been Secretary of the Wallacea Trust since 2012. He is a marine ecologist and conservationist by training, although he now works in nature-based solutions, leveraging private sector finance to drive landscape scale nature restoration and protection.
Dan leads the administrative management of the Trust.
Our Values
Scientific Rigour
Grounded in robust, peer-reviewed methods
Accessibility
Ensuring tools and opportunities are open to all
Impact-focused
Supporting initiatives that lead to real conservation outcomes
Our Work
Our mission is to strengthen biodiversity conservation by supporting people, championing open science and directing funds to where they make a real difference. We believe in transparent measurement, practical applications and in empowering the next generation of environmental leaders.
Wallacea Trust Methodology
The Wallacea Trust owns and stewards the Wallacea Trust Methodology, one of the leading scientific approaches for accurately measuring and reporting biodiversity change. This methodology quantifies biodiversity gain and avoided loss using a consistent set of ecological metrics, allowing changes to be expressed in standardised biodiversity units based on a 1% increase (or avoided loss) in the median of a basket of metrics on one hectare of habitat.
By owning the methodology, we commit to keeping it open access and free to use in perpetuity. Our role is to safeguard its scientific integrity, ensure transparency, and support its appropriate use across conservation, restoration and land-use projects. This commitment has led to the methodology being adopted by a growing number of organisations seeking credible and comparable approaches to biodiversity measurement.
We believe that high-quality conservation depends on clear, consistent and scientifically defensible measurement. By maintaining an open and trusted methodology, we aim to strengthen biodiversity outcomes and improve confidence in how they are assessed and reported.
Supporting Students and Early Career Scientists
We support the next generation of ecologists and environmental scientists by funding studentships and field-based learning opportunities. These awards help students gain practical experience in biodiversity research and conservation, building the skills needed for long-term careers in environmental science.
The Murray Foundation was established by Nick Murray, whose long-standing commitment to conservation and education aligned closely with the aims of the Wallacea Trust. Following Nick Murray’s death in 2024, the Foundation’s assets were transferred to the Wallacea Trust, with the clear intention that we would continue and safeguard his legacy.
As a result, the Murray Foundation has effectively become part of the Wallacea Trust. Its endowment provides a secure, long-term source of funding that will support studentships for many years to come, ensuring Nick Murray’s contribution to the environment continues well into the future.
Our studentships typically support students undertaking field-based ecological research, including contributions towards travel, accommodation and research costs. Awards are primarily, though not exclusively, funded through the Murray Foundation endowment.
Murray Award
PhD Research Support
Renew Scholarships
Supporting Conservation in Practice
We provide targeted financial support to on-the-ground conservation initiatives that deliver tangible benefits for biodiversity. These contributions are directed towards projects that align with our mission and demonstrate clear ecological value.
Our support may include funding for habitat protection or restoration, applied ecological research, or initiatives that strengthen local conservation capacity. We prioritise projects where funding can make a meaningful difference and where outcomes can be clearly evidenced.
Through this work, we aim to complement our investment in future scientists and open measurement tools by helping ensure that conservation action translates into real and lasting benefits for nature.
