ABOUT
Non-profit foundations carrying the same name and purposes are being set up during 2023 in Sweden, Brazil and the UK – all under the umbrella of "Antonelli Foundations". So far only the Swedish foundation is officially registered.
In Sweden: "Antonelli Foundation for Biodiversity Research and Conservation Insamlingsstiftelse"
This non-profit charity is overseen by the County Administrative Board in Gothenburg (Länsstyrelsen i Göteborg) under Sweden’s foundation law (stiftelselag). The Foundation is governed by the Foundation Board, consisting at its inception of three members who work on a voluntary basis: Anna Antonelli, Alexandre Antonelli and Johan Berg.
Swedish Foundation Statutes
Below is a translated summary of the full Statutes:
The purpose of the Foundation is to promote the research and conservation of biological diversity. In order to fulfil these objectives, the Foundation works with and supports targeted projects and other arrangements in the fields of research, education and dissemination of knowledge, nature conservation including conservation and species protection, ecological restoration, sustainable use of natural resources, social entrepreneurship, technological development and adaptation, communication, counselling, collaboration, and other themes and areas that the Board of Directors considers to be in accordance with the spirit and purpose of the Foundation.
Capital shall be provided to the Foundation through fundraising activities. The Foundation shall use the capital raised and the return on it to fulfil its mission, taking into account that the necessary funds are available for auditing and other measures for satisfactory administration and development. The administration of the Board and the Foundation's accounts shall be audited annually by an authorised auditor or an auditing company. The Foundation shall be supervised in accordance with the Foundation Act or other law in force at any given time.
The Foundation has the right to acquire, manage, sell, exchange and rent land, real estate, buildings, equipment, other infrastructure and enterprises for the fulfilment of the mission. Important keywords are excellence, inclusion, sustainability, cooperation, ambition, innovation, quality, responsibility, transparency and inclusion. The Foundation is non-profit, non-partisan and non-religious.
Anna Antonelli
Co-Founder, Vice-President
anna [at] sveide.se
“What right do people have to build a road across a landscape already inhabited by lots of animals?”
Growing up in the Swedish city of Skövde, this is one of the questions that occupied my mind as a child. I have always felt a strong connection with nature, from the early days I would help my father in his veterinary clinic at home, through my travels across Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, and during my countless summers in our family’s cottage on the beautiful island of Tjörn.
But rather than seeing humans as separate from nature, to me it has always been obvious that we are an integral part of it – with no more rights than other species, but with the obligation to leave this world a better place than we found it. And unfortunately, we are all failing short.
This is why I decided to co-found this Foundation. I wanted to make a tangible difference for nature, during my lifetime. I have decades of experience in management and leadership within the health sector, in private and public organisations, with a strong focus on quality and productivity.
Taking this experience with me, a personal goal is to ensure that every dollar entrusted to the Foundation is spent as wisely and effectively as possible, so that it takes us one step closer to achieving our project objectives.
Alexandre Antonelli
Co-Founder, President
antonelli.bio [at] gmail.com
“How can something so extraordinary exist?”
One of my first memories in life was that of a huge blue Morpho butterfly, in Brazil’s Atlantic forest. It flew straight towards me, then turned right and disappeared, in the twinkling of an eye. I was left paralysed: how could something so extraordinary exist? While other kids amused themselves with playing football on the beach, I would venture into the forest as often as I could, during our family holidays. I would collect anything interesting I found – seeds, stones, feathers, beetles – and later sort everything meticulously in my own “museum”.
Fast forward a few decades, and I still find myself just as amazed at the natural world, and biodiversity still occupies nearly all my time and attention – as Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the UK, Professor of Biodiversity and Systematics at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford.
But after twenty years of scientific endeavours and over 200 academic publications – during which time Brazil lost over 28 million hectares of primary forest – I decided to do everything I possibly could to revert the tragic loss of nature we are all witnessing today. So together with Anna, we decided to create the Antonelli Foundation for Biodiversity Research and Conservation.
Through hard work, support and collaborations, we aim for this Foundation to help create a world where people and other species live in harmony, and where biodiversity is understood, valued, sustainably used and protected – forever.