Airbnb Community Fund grants support sustainability & conservation programs

When Hosts on Airbnb open their doors to travelers from around the world, they welcome their guests into their communities, too. As part of our commitment to share Airbnb’s success with our stakeholders, we want to give back to the neighborhoods and towns our Hosts call home. In 2020, Airbnb created the Airbnb Community Fund to distribute $100 million USD through 2030 to help strengthen communities around the world. 

Today, we are excited to announce the 2022 Airbnb Community Fund grant recipients. In 2022, the program’s primary focus was sustainability, with more than $6 million in grants awarded to over 20 organizations working to protect our planet and promote environmental sustainability and conservation in 19 countries across six continents. As in 2021, our Host Advisory Board provided important feedback to inform this process. 

The 2022 grant recipients include organizations around the world such as: Leave No Trace in the US, WWF-Brazil Coral Reef Restoration Project in Brazil, EcoExploratorio in Puerto Rico, Retake Roma in Italy, Lapalala Wilderness School in South Africa, The Association of National Trusts in Japan, the National Trust of Korea in Korea, and Bush Heritage in Australia. 

In 2022, the Airbnb Community Fund also supported sustainability education and awareness programs, as well as organizations performing home energy audits to help Airbnb Hosts across the UK and France improve the energy efficiency of their homes. The recipients were Effy and Essentiem in France, and Energy Savings Trust and The Energy Saving Trust Foundation in the UK. In addition, Airbnb also directed Community Fund grants to additional organizations that we believe play an important role in communities around the world. 

During 2021, the Community Fund’s inaugural year, Airbnb distributed grants to more than 150 organizations focused on COVID-19 relief, economic empowerment, and education as they worked to meet the unprecedented needs brought about by the pandemic. Many of these organizations have since shared how the funding impacted their communities over the last year. Among the impacts these organizations shared, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Inc. provided 410,000 meals for Americans living in food insecurity and the Irish Hospice Foundation developed bereavement education programs for frontline workers. 

Many of the 2022 grant recipients shared with us how this funding will impact their organizations:

“As a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, EcoExploratorio relies on the generous donations from individuals and corporate donors, in-kind donations, and volunteers to help us provide exhibits and programming that sparks imagination in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Thanks to the support of friends like Airbnb, EcoExploratorio has become a leader in Puerto Rico as an informal STEM Education center, funded by philanthropy partners since 2014 impacting thousands of students, teachers, and the general public annually from our current space in Plaza Las Américas.”

EcoExploratorio, Puerto Rico

“The Endangered Wildlife Trust is committed to conserving threatened species and ecosystems in Southern Africa to the benefit of all. To achieve this, we focus on three main strategic imperatives: Saving Species, Conserving Habitats, and Benefiting People. The EWT would like to express a heartfelt thank you to Airbnb for their incredible generosity and support. Their support will assist us in our efforts to ensure our children and our children’s children enjoy the magnificent diversity that Africa has to offer. This Airbnb Community Fund grant will go towards what the EWT does best, Conservation In Action.”

Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa

“Australia faces a biodiversity challenge with the highest extinction rate in the developed world. This generous grant funded by Airbnb, Inc. supports critical groundwork to restore Australia’s magnificent landscapes to good health, giving its irreplaceable native species an opportunity to recover and thrive. The grant will enhance the vital partnerships that Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund supports with Aboriginal groups through charitable organizations working to conserve Australia’s unique biodiversity and manage land of substantial conservation value.”

Friends of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, United States on behalf of Australia

“Loss and degradation of forests and wetlands is impacting the planet and threatening livelihood and welfare of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs). At the Global Environment Centre, we believe empowering IPLCs to protect and restore ecosystems is key to addressing the global crises related to climate change and biodiversity loss. Over the past 25 years, we have supported the development and activities of nearly 50 community groups and organizations across Malaysia. The funding from Airbnb will allow us to build a national platform to bring key groups together to learn from and work with one another. We will also support targeted action with these groups at 10 different sites for forest protection and rehabilitation, outreach, conservation advocacy, and environmental education.”

Global Environment Centre, Malaysia

“The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) is honored to receive this timely grant as we undertake our vital research project that will help raise awareness among Caribbean Micro, Small and Medium Sized Tourism Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) about the importance of climate-responsible practices in their operations, as well as encouraging them to take urgent action to combat climate change. We are excited to partner with Airbnb whose climate action corporate sustainability framework (which is committed to making Airbnb a Net Zero company by 2030), is in sync with one of the GTRCMC’s mandates; that is, building tourism resilience capacities for climate action and for global sustainability.”

Global Tourism Resilience Crisis Management Centre, Jamaica

“The Airbnb Community Fund will support Leave No Trace’s new Spotlights Program. Leave No Trace Spotlights are community sustainability initiatives that provide volunteer service projects, hands-on trainings and outreach—all resulting in healthier parks, trails and communities. Together, Leave No Trace and Airbnb will impact more than 20 high-profile Host communities in the United States this year to protect the outdoor areas those communities rely on. This important alliance with Airbnb significantly expands our work, ensuring that even more people and places are armed with Leave No Trace education, the most effective way to preserve the outdoor places we all love.”

Leave No Trace, United States

“Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is honored to be the recipient of a significant grant award from the Airbnb Community Fund that will have an impact on the whole of Lewa’s model, a 360-degree approach to conservation benefiting wildlife, ecosystems, and people.  Through Lewa 360, the Conservancy will utilize Airbnb funding where it is needed most and to deliver five key programs: Conservation and Security, Healthcare, Education, Women’s Microenterprise, and Sustainable Agriculture. On behalf of the Conservancy and its local and international partners, thank you for sharing our vision of a future where people across Kenya and the world value, protect, and benefit from wildlife and healthy ecosystems.”

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya

“The National Trust of Korea (NTK) is grateful to receive an Airbnb Community Fund grant in support of our efforts to help Korea’s future generations inherit and enjoy our country’s beautiful and sustainable natural heritage. With the grant, we are planning to improve the ‘Donggang Jejang Village’ with underwater purification activities using boats that would allow us to remove unseen garbage in the water. In addition, we plan to conduct a pilot project that replaces the current traditional farming method that depends on equipment made of plastic, agricultural pesticides, and chemicals with an eco-friendly farming method for local farmers.”

National Trust of Korea, Korea 

“The Nebenan Foundation is very happy to receive the generous support from the Airbnb Community Fund and we thank you very much for your trust in our organization! We can now set up our “Klimaschutz nebenan” (Climate Protection Next Door) competition to be even larger in 2023! This means reaching out to even more neighbors, and activating more community-led climate protection initiatives all over Germany’s neighborhoods. What a great outlook for 2023! That’s encouraging!”

nebenan.de Foundation, Germany

“As Plastic Free we are glad to receive Airbnb funds in order to continue our meaningful projects. The funds will support our volunteers during the cleanup actions, the classes to raise awareness in schools and the rescue of sea turtles that are treated in our recovery center, which will be able to find the most suitable meals and treatments before being released back into the sea. Moreover, we will improve our work with municipalities signing more collaboration pacts for the sake of the environment and to simplify local projects supported by institutions. Additionally, we will develop our newborn projects focused on collaboration with sports associations, fight against the abandonment of cigarette butts and move the first steps towards Europe and the rest of the world.”

Plastic Free Onlus, Italy

“Retake and Airbnb Italy will join forces in five wonderful cities. From March to June, Retakers and Airbnb Hosts will jointly organize four clean up and speak up events in Milan, Venice, Naples and Brindisi, involving Airbnb Guests and combining culture and beauty, with the pleasure of taking care of the places where we live. Starting September, we will requalify a portion of the confluence between Tiber and Aniene rivers in Rome to contribute to the widespread museum in that area. Together, we can make a difference!”

Retake Roma, Italy

“Rezero seeks new solutions to extend the life of products and materials by facilitating their reuse, and to eliminate the generation of household waste. We create and share knowledge, and promote innovative ideas, legislative initiatives, public plans, and projects so that companies, public administrations, and citizens can have the opportunity to enjoy a model of production and consumption towards Zero Waste, without toxic materials or products that are left without use. The grant from Airbnb will mainly be used for responsible tourism and consumption projects, and will support Rezero’s activity as we continue working towards a Zero Waste society.”

Rezero, Spain 

“Surfrider Foundation Canada is so grateful for this generous donation from Airbnb. These funds directly support our important work in communities across Canada to reduce plastic pollution, protect the ocean, preserve public beach access and ensure clean water so that all people can enjoy the coast.”

Surfrider Foundation Canada, Canada

“The Association of National Trusts in Japan is involved in land trust activities in the aim of protecting important nature from development projects by acquiring land, and preserving places where many wildlife species can live in peace. With the Airbnb Community Fund grant, we will further purchase forests and wetlands that are home to precious wildlife, raise awareness of National Trust activities, make policy recommendations to the national and local governments, and conduct research and surveys. The grant will also encourage the 30by30 initiative for biodiversity conservation, and further it will help hand over important natural capital for future generations.”

The Association of National Trusts in Japan, Japan

“With the Airbnb Community Fund grant, The Lapalala Wilderness School will continue the essential work we do to help our children and young adults discover the value of biodiversity in our natural world and our place within it, as well as identify and nurture Africa’s future conservation champions. Environmental Education courses are vitally important and teach children that the health of people is intimately connected with the health of the environment. The grant will assist us in setting up gardens in our local communities and also create a space to educate the public on climate change and biodiversity education as it is a core pillar of our work.”

The Lapalala Wilderness School, South Africa 

“Tusk is incredibly grateful for the generous support from the Airbnb Community Fund. This funding will make a significant contribution to community-led conservation in Africa. Specifically, the grant will support the protection of endangered forest habitats in northwestern Madagascar through empowering local communities and sustainable livelihood activities. It will also help to fund Tusk’s flagship Pan African Conservation Education (PACE) program, which works with schools, education centers and community groups in more than 30 African countries.”

Tusk, United Kingdom in support of African countries 

“UNESCO Waterberg Biosphere would like to thank Airbnb for aiding our critical conservation efforts and being part of this journey towards Protecting Forever, Together. This Community Fund grant will be used in scaling up our communication with our stakeholders and partners, our environmental education/awareness programmes as well as supporting food gardens in rural schools. Working together with like-minded organizations helps us ensure that more people are included, thus working towards the overarching goal of leaving no one behind if we are to make a meaningful impact.”

UNESCO Waterberg Biosphere, South Africa 

“WWF-Brazil is excited to be part of this great effort led by the Airbnb Community Fund. These grants will help change the critical scenario for Brazilian Coral Reefs, which already suffer from climate change. Together, WWF-Brazil and Airbnb Community Fund partnership will support making oceans healthier by promoting coral reef restoration as an important agenda for climate change adaptation in the Brazilian Northeast Coast.”

WWF-Brazil 

To learn more about the Community Fund and the grant recipients, please visit the Airbnb Community Fund page.