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| Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales |
| Formation | 20th century |
| Headquarters | Caracas, Venezuela |
| Region served | Venezuela, Latin America |
| Leader title | Director |
Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales is a Venezuelan scientific foundation dedicated to natural history, biodiversity research, conservation, and environmental education. It operates collections, runs field research programs, and partners with national and international institutions to document flora, fauna, and geological diversity across Venezuela and the Neotropics. The foundation collaborates with universities, museums, and conservation organizations to support taxonomy, systematics, and public outreach.
The foundation traces roots to religious and academic initiatives in the 20th century connected to Instituto de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad Central de Venezuela, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Caracas, and Catholic educational networks such as the De La Salle Brothers and Congregation of Christian Brothers (Ireland). Early expeditions referenced interactions with institutions like Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and American Museum of Natural History. During decades of activity it engaged with national efforts such as collaborations with the Ministerio del Ambiente (Venezuela), regional projects linked to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, and cooperative studies alongside the Universidad Simón Bolívar and Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela).
The foundation's stated aim aligns with themes of biodiversity inventory, species conservation, and dissemination, working with partners including World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, IUCN, Madre de Dios Research Station, and regional NGOs. Activities encompass taxonomic description programs in collaboration with experts from Royal Ontario Museum, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, and university departments such as Harvard University Herbaria and National Autonomous University of Mexico. The foundation also engages in policy advisory roles interacting with bodies like UNEP and regional agreements including the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Its natural history collections include holdings comparable in scope to regional repositories like Museo del Instituto de Zoología Tropical, with specimens studied in conjunction with researchers from Natural History Museum, London, Field Museum of Natural History, and Universidad Central de Venezuela. Research outputs span taxonomy of amphibians and reptiles with links to specialists from American Museum of Natural History Herpetology Collection, ornithological surveys related to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, entomological studies tied to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and botanical inventories partnered with Missouri Botanical Garden. The foundation participates in molecular systematics projects using collaborations with Sanger Institute and laboratories at Universidad de Antioquia.
Education programs run in partnership with schools and universities such as Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola (Caracas), Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, and regional outreach involving Red Iberoamericana de Educación Ambiental. Public exhibitions have occurred in venues like Teatro Teresa Carreño and municipal museums similar to Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas. Citizen science initiatives have been conducted linking volunteers to databases like those of GBIF, projects comparable to eBird, and community conservation models used by Rainforest Trust.
The foundation's governance structure includes a board with professionals from academic institutions such as Universidad del Zulia, representatives from religious orders like De La Salle Brothers, and liaisons to international partners including UNESCO and regional conservation networks like Orinoco Biodiversity Network. Funding sources historically have included grants from organizations such as Ford Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and collaborations with corporate partners modeled after partnerships with PDVSA La Estancia-style patrons. Staff and research affiliates often hold posts at institutions such as Smithsonian Institution and Universidad Simón Bolívar.
Headquartered in Caracas, the foundation has field stations and research facilities in regions comparable to the Sierra de Perijá, Cordillera de Mérida, and the Orinoco Delta. Specimen curation spaces mirror standards at institutions like Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Spain) and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for paleontological, entomological, and botanical collections. Logistics for expeditions have been coordinated through air and river access points including routes used in projects with Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization partners.
Notable projects include multi-year biodiversity inventories in montane and lowland ecosystems analogous to surveys undertaken by Project Amazonas, taxonomic descriptions of new species in collaboration with researchers associated with American Museum of Natural History and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and conservation programs aligned with IUCN Red List assessments. The foundation has contributed specimen data to international databases such as GBIF and supported capacity building through fellowships modeled on exchanges with Smithsonian Institution and training programs similar to those of Conservation International.
Category:Scientific organizations based in Venezuela Category:Natural history organizations