Colcom Foundation grounds its conservation grantmaking in decades of published science examining how human population density affects habitat and species survival. The organization points to a wide body of peer-reviewed work, spanning multiple continents and research teams, as the foundation for its funding priorities.
A 2022 study in Biological Conservation found that population growth is a fundamental driver of biodiversity loss and that population decrease facilitates ecological restoration efforts, drawing on case studies from rural Europe where declining human density enabled rewilding projects and species recovery. Colcom Foundation cites this research alongside work from Deinet et al., which documented a 28 percent decline in rural European populations between 1960 and 2010 that coincided with the return of many mammal and bird species to former agricultural land.
Warnings From the Scientific Community
Broader scientific consensus statements echo similar themes. A 2017 BioScience paper titled “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice,” signed by more than 15,000 scientists, identified population growth as a factor in the urgent steps needed to safeguard the biosphere, alongside greenhouse gas reduction and habitat protection. The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services reached a related conclusion in its 2019 Global Assessment, describing biodiversity loss as underpinned by demographic and economic growth that has accelerated in recent decades.
Colcom Foundation also references narrower studies, including Ceballos et al., published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which pointed to human overpopulation and overconsumption as ultimate drivers of biodiversity loss after documenting vertebrate declines across 177 mammal species.
How the Foundation Uses This Evidence
Rather than funding a single study or institution, Colcom Foundation supports public education that draws together this wider research base. Critics note that population centered readings of biodiversity science remain contested among ecologists, many of whom emphasize consumption in wealthy nations as the larger driver. The organization presents its full citation list through its public facing materials, allowing readers to evaluate the underlying studies directly. Refer to this article for related information.
Find more information about Colcom Foundation on https://waterlandlife.org/land-conservation/colcom-revolving-fund-for-local-land-trusts/