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2020-09-30-accounts

Company number: 4373313 Charity number: 1094467

Conservation Education & Research Trust Report and financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Contents

Trustees’ annual report

About Earthwatch ............................................................4 Our environmental commitment .....................................6 Fundraising .......................................................................7

Strategic report

Objectives and achievements .........................................8 Thriving places to live and work ....................................10

Enabling sustainable agricultural

land management ..........................................................12 Enhancing the health of our coasts ..............................14 Improving our freshwater environment ........................16 Innovation and capacity building ..................................18 Financial review .............................................................20

Administration and governance ....................................25 Independent auditor’s report .........................................28 Consolidated statement of financial activities ............32

Balance sheets ...............................................................33 Consolidated statement of cash flows .........................34 Notes to the financial statements.................................35 Thank you to our supporters .........................................50

Welcome

2020 has been a year like no other. The experiences of data in their Sustainable Development Goal report the COVID-19 pandemic, the upturning of modern life, on water quality thanks to FreshWater Watch. That have led all of us to consider what is truly valuable. important work and more is highlighted in this report.

As we look forward to 2021, further innovations are underway at Earthwatch as we reach the mid-way point of our five year strategy. It will be important to keep reviewing our approach to ensure that it meets the urgent needs of the post-COVID world, and that we use our resources in the ways that will have maximum impact.

The lockdown experienced all over the world provided a chance to pause and reflect. For many it highlighted the importance of nature and our relationship with it. The determination to “build back better” has rung out very clearly. And the importance of science, not only in facing down this pandemic but also in building the path to a “new normal”, could not have been more strongly demonstrated.

Despite the ongoing challenges that this pandemic has brought to bear – to our health, our economies and our wellbeing – it is clear that the long-term solutions lie in bold collaborative action. We need to harness people’s ideas, energy and commitment. Our CEO, Steve Andrews, has made a brilliant start in his new role. Steve has done great work to ensure that he and his team are well positioned to make important contributions to that vital global effort. I am proud to stand with them and strive for even greater success.

That new normal will need to address the challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity that threaten our very existence. For a COVID-19 recovery that builds a better future, a healthy relationship with the planet is essential. Living within our means and in balance with the natural world need to be reinforced as strategic priorities - global, national and local. Now more than ever, the work of Earthwatch Europe, an environmental charity with science at its heart, is vital.

Against this backdrop of uncertainty, my colleagues at Earthwatch have shown huge resilience, determination and creativity. They have adapted, innovated and identified new ways of connecting our lives with the wellbeing of the planet.

Lucian J Hudson

Chair, Earthwatch Europe

2020 was the year that Earthwatch planted the UK’s first Tiny Forest, in Oxfordshire. It was the year that community biodiversity project Naturehood transitioned from a regional pilot to a national initiative, with a 13,000-strong community from across the UK. It saw the launch of Wild Days, an online learning platform that facilitated outdoor learning for families with young children in lockdown. And it saw the UN highlighting the value of Earthwatch’s FreshWater Watch methodology for global Sustainable Development Goal reporting, with Zambia the first country to include citizen science

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Earthwatch Europe is the trading name of Conservation Education and Research Trust

About Earthwatch

Driving the change needed to live within our means and in balance with nature.

Our planet - and all life on it - is facing unprecedented challenges. Climate change and loss of biodiversity threaten our very existence and the beauty of the world as we know it. Science has identified the causes of these challenges, and science is essential if we’re to face and solve them.

Earthwatch is an environmental charity with science at its heart. We connect people with the natural world, monitor the health of our natural resources, and inform the actions that will have the greatest positive impact.

We work together with scientists, businesses, civil society and policy-makers to drive the change needed to live within our means and in balance with nature.

Our current priorities

Climate resilience and biodiversity in urban settings

Agricultural land management

Because, with two thirds of the world’s population projected to live in cities by 2050, humanity needs to urgently adapt to the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, and nature actually has many of the answers we need.

Because farming is on the frontline of almost all the challenges we face: feeding the world, conserving fresh water, protecting biodiversity and conserving soil health.

The next generation

Improving freshwater environments

Because one day it will be up to them to protect the natural world, and they need the knowledge and skills to do it.

Because a world of nine billion people needs to conserve and protect every drop of fresh water that we have.

Our values

----- Start of picture text -----
Inclusive Objective Passionate Empowering Responsible
We believe it is As an independent We are passionate We seek to We act in a manner
essential that people research about the inspire people, that respects
from all walks of life organisation (IRO), opportunity we organisations and and protects the
participate in solving scientific research have to make a communities with wellbeing of people
the environmental is at the core of meaningful impact the experiences, and the environment,
challenges we face. our work, and on people and the knowledge and including our
We are proud to be its outcomes natural world. tools that enable staff, researchers,
at the forefront of determine our them to take action. volunteers and the
the global citizen goals and priorities. places we work.
science movement,
developing and
sharing best practice
for the benefit of
people, wildlife
and nature.
----- End of picture text -----

“We connect people with the natural world...”

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Our environmental commitment

Our Green Group was progressing with plans for the implementation of the Earthwatch Environmental Charter in the early part of this year, but these plans were disrupted by the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. Many of the commitments in the charter related to our head office in Oxford and some related to the delivery of our projects in the field. Since March, we have rarely used our office and our field delivery has been very limited. As a result of this unprecedented period, we have seen our carbon footprint radically reduced.

wherever possible, through raising awareness of water-saving behaviour and exploring opportunities for initiatives in our building.

Purchasing

Putting environmental sustainability at the forefront when selecting everyday purchases including office stationery, in-office food and drink, cleaning products and marketing materials. We will favour products with eco-labels, looking to minimise packaging and single-use plastic wherever possible.

Suppliers

Whilst some of this is circumstantial and will be impossible to sustain when the group reconvenes in 2021, we aim to retain many of the changes for the long-term and be bolder in our targets as a result. We will be working on a set of new commitments during the next financial year and will report on those changes in next year’s Annual Report.

Promoting best practice within our supply chain, embedding supplier environmental approach and practice as core criteria in our decision-making during their selection. We will favour suppliers within the UK or those with carbon reduction strategies for our office supplies to minimise the carbon impact of the purchases we make.

The Earthwatch Environmental Charter

Paper use

Consistently tracking our paper use and reducing this per FTE, focusing on inoffice stationery and printing.

We are committed to…

Carbon

Consistently monitoring our carbon footprint*, aiming to reduce this per full-time employee (FTE). We will offset emissions we are able to measure from employee travel (business and commuting) and energy use in our Oxford office as a last resort in addressing our carbon footprint.

Waste

Embedding the principles of the waste hierarchy (avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle) within our Oxford office, minimising the amount of non-recycled waste we produce onsite.

Venues

Energy

Supporting sustainable practice in the venues we choose for meetings and events and embedding environmental sustainability into our criteria for selection. We will provide meat-free catering, wherever possible.

Consistently tracking energy use in our Oxford office and aiming to reduce this per FTE, by changing in-office behaviour and exploring wider opportunities for change in our shared building.

Sustainable transport

Project and programme design and implementation

Minimising our transport-related environmental impact, by reducing the miles travelled by employees for business wherever possible and promoting use of lower-carbon modes of transport for business travel and commuting.

Considering environmental impact throughout design, implementation and wrap-up of our projects and programmes, actively seeking to minimise the impact of these activities wherever possible and appropriate.

Water

*Our carbon footprint will be estimated based on business travel, employee commuting and energy use in our Oxford office

Minimising the water use and impact on water quality within our Oxford office

Fundraising

Earthwatch Europe receives the majority of its income from corporate partners. We work with some of our partners to embed sustainability within their business. Other partners support us to deliver public engagement and education programmes. Each corporate we partner with is assessed in line with our partnership ethics policy.

Earthwatch has also maintained a steady income from individuals. As in previous years, individuals are able to support us via one-off donations, recurring donations, and sponsorship for marathons and other events. There has also been an increase in people fundraising for their birthday.

We have introduced new funding routes for individuals. These include a subscription service for our Naturehood project, and two online stores: one for apparel and one for wildlife care products. The financial risk from these online stores is minimal as we do not need to pre-purchase stock.

Income from research grants remains an important source of funding across many of our programmes. This year, Earthwatch’s recent accreditation as an Independent Research Organisation has enabled us to partner and lead on several proposals to the UK research councils.

Earthwatch is a member of the Fundraising Regulator. All our fundraising activity was carried out by internal staff members in 2020, and we have a number of policies in place to ensure our fundraising activity is transparent.

Income from Trusts and Foundations is of growing importance to Earthwatch as we continue to diversify our income streams. Earthwatch works with a variety of organisations to help fund its work across our three pillars of connecting people to nature, monitoring the health of our natural resources and promoting impactful actions to reduce environmental impact.

We have ensured that all fundraising was in line with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). We received no complaints about our fundraising practices in 2020 (2019: None).

Monitoring the Connecting health of our people to nature natural resources

Promoting impactful actions

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Strategic report: Objectives and achievements

Despite the challenges that 2020 brought, we’re proud of the range of impressive achievements we were able to bring about in the second year of our strategy.

Through our partnership in the NERC-funded Community for Engaging Environments programme we co-developed a Community of Practice on public engagement in science at the University of Birmingham.

In response to national lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed and launched

Wild Days, an online platform that offered daily video content and learning resources to support parents to take their children’s learning outside.

Through Wild Days we partnered with the LEGO® Group, who went on to commission our education team to create resources for their Build the Change platform.

Working with businesses to drive environmental sustainability

Highlights from 2020 at a glance

Thriving places to live and work

Earthwatch was one of more than 70 research partners who produced the UK’s State of Nature Report, released in October 2019. The report showed that 41% of UK species studied have declined, 26% have increased and 33% shown little change since 1970.

Naturehood concluded its initial project under the National Lottery Heritage Fund, engaging 1,150 people, with a total of 1,869 people attending our events.

We launched the new Naturehood digital platform, recruiting over 13,000 participants from across the UK.

Naturehood began new partnerships to further its presence across the UK, with a Senior Project Officer with The Conservation Volunteers taking Naturehood to Glasgow and a new Community Engagement Officer in Birmingham working with the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) Engaging Environments programme.

We planted the UK’s first Tiny Forest in Witney, Oxfordshire.

Our partnership with HSBC won a Charity Times ‘Corporate National Partnership with a Financial Institution’ Award, alongside a Global Good award in the ‘Environmental Behaviour Change’ category.

Enabling sustainable agricultural land management

We published two well-received reports: ‘Soil Health, Biodiversity and the Business Case for Sustainable Agriculture’ in December 2019, and ‘How citizen science can support businesses to deliver on environmental targets’ in January 2020.

We concluded our research for Tate & Lyle into stevia supply chain in China.

One of our scientists became a Mission Assembly

member for the European Union’s ‘Soil Health, Food Research and Innovation’ mission, in preparation for Horizon Europe 2021-2027. We also joined the UKSoils initiative alongside the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Sustainable Soils Alliance, the University of Sheffield and Devenish.

Enhancing the health of our coasts

We trained our partners, the Seychelles National Park Authority, in how to make coral reef stars, marking the first time this conservation technique has been brought to the Seychelles.

Improving our freshwater environment

Our September 2020 Thames WaterBlitz was the most successful yet. Funded by Thames Water, with additional support from the Environment Agency, we widened participation to more than 800 volunteers.

We expanded our freshwater project in Zambia, working with another community on the Zambezi River, to enable reporting on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (Water and Sanitation). The national Water Management Authority is now actively using citizen science projects to increase spatial and temporal coverage for SDG reporting.

FreshWater Watch’s potential to contribute to the SDGs was independently recognised by a highprofile paper in the journal Sustainability Science .

We launched our plastic footprint calculator with funding from SC Johnson, collecting data and providing tailored advice to over 2,000 people. Our first research paper to analyse the data was published in the journal PLoS One in August 2020.

Innovation and capacity building

The Ground Truth 2.0 project, funded by EU Horizon 2020, was successfully completed. The resulting methodology on the co-creation of hands-on citizen science has been fed into other Horizon 2020 innovation projects, including MICS, which Earthwatch leads.

Earthwatch works with a number of corporate partners to drive change in their operations and improve their impacts on the environment. Central to that work are our training programmes that engage employees, business leaders, suppliers and clients on environmental sustainability and the critical challenges facing the natural world.

participants’ emotions and values to sustainability. These sessions support participants to take responsible action within their business and personal lives, with a particular focus on environmental sustainability. Over the course of the next financial year we will be developing new online leadership programmes for business, designed to drive and shape sustainable transformation in uncertain times.

This year, in response to evolving demands for events and activities to be delivered remotely, we have redesigned some of our corporate learning programmes to take them online. This has enabled us to broaden the reach of our programmes in a cost-effective and less carbon-intensive way, as well as providing motivation and connection at a time of uncertainty in the world and in business.

Alongside the opportunities digital learning has provided for us, it has also highlighted the need to keep the nature-connection aspect of our work that is so fundamental to the way that Earthwatch creates impact. We are experimenting with innovative ways to bring nature connection into our online programmes.

We have now developed a series of 12 interactive learning modules for our corporate partners. They provide fundamental sustainability literacy, as well as connecting

We will be including an update on further developments and achievements in this area in the Annual Report for the 2021 financial year.

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Thriving places to live and work Spend: £2,345,000

We work with city councils, businesses and communities to create greener, healthier and safer cities.

We focus our work in two key programmes:

Objectives

Naturehood

Achievements

Naturehood

Naturehood concluded its initial project under the NLHF, engaging 1,150 people and achieving a total of 1,869 event attendees. An independent evaluation by Heritage Insider noted that Naturehood is “a very promising model which, with a little tweaking, could deliver high quality place-based nature engagement at the heart of urban communities, including those which have been traditionally harder-to-reach for the conservation sector.”

We secured two successful footholds outside our initial pilot areas. We partnered with The Conservation Volunteers in Scotland, recruiting one of their Senior Project Officers (Citizen Science) to work on implementing Naturehood in the area one day per week. Despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, individual and group memberships continue to rise in Scotland. We also appointed a Community Engagement Officer in Birmingham as part of the National Environmental Research Council Engaging Environments project.

Climate-proof cities

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to radically restructure Naturehood, moving from a delivery model based on face-to-face engagement to a digital-led programme. We migrated our Naturehood community from its existing disparate online platforms to a custom one, providing a closed social network for Naturehood members and a better user experience for completing scientific surveys

through a customised plug-in to the platform.

Sustainability Leadership Programmes, engaging a total of 550 HSBC employees and key clients (including 12 of the influential Next Generation clients of the HSBC Private Bank). This brings the total over the three-year programme to over 2,000 HSBC employees deeply engaged with the subject of sustainability, trained as citizen scientists collecting data in support of our research on urban Nature-based Solutions, and equipped to lead and influence colleagues and clients to take action.

A very successful social media marketing campaign over the summer attracted over 13,000 people to the new Naturehood platform, with 50 local groups established by the end of the financial year. The move to a digital-first model resulted in consistent production of innovative content, such as Facebook Lives, quizzes and competitions, and online events for members to engage with.

Climate-proof cities

It also brings the total for the entire eight-year Water Programme partnership to over 8,000 HSBC employees engaged by Earthwatch. We are continuing to disseminate the research results that were generated by the partnership to the scientific community and policy-makers, using innovative tools such as an augmented reality (AR) experience.

In March 2020 Earthwatch officially launched Tiny Forests in the UK. We planted 600 native saplings to create the UK’s first Tiny Forest in Witney, in partnership with Witney Town Council, Witney Land Army and around 80 local residents. Since then, working within varying COVID-19 restrictions, we have managed to establish a keeper team to look after and help maintain the forest. We also conducted the first monitoring day, collecting baseline data from the forest on growth, biodiversity, carbon capture, flood mitigation and thermal comfort.

We submitted our work as part of the HSBC Water Programme into several corporate sustainability awards. The partnership won bronze for Environmental Behaviour Change in the Global Good Awards, and we were finalists in the Third Sector Business Charity Awards 2020. The Water Programme partnership with HSBC, WaterAid and WWF also won a Charity Times Corporate National Partnership with a Financial Institution Award.

Corporate partners

FY20 saw the end of the HSBC Water Programme and a celebration of our partnership. We delivered 24 Sustainability Training Programmes and 9

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Spend: £355,000

Enabling sustainable agricultural land management

We work with businesses, farmers, communities, scientists, NGOs and policymakers to embed sustainable agricultural practices that ensure the longevity and health of our landscapes.

As part of plans to engage stakeholders, at the start of the financial year we published two reports:

Objectives

In the UK we are also engaging small woodland owners and farmers in a novel field trial to understand whether waste wood products from rotational cropping can be used to prevent environmental damage from soil erosion and reduce nutrient run-off into nearby watercourses.

After a thorough review of the pressures on agricultural systems, we identified an opportunity for impact in developing an offering on improving soil health and increasing small pockets of tree cover across landscapes in the UK. We therefore started developing a Soil Health Platform, co-created with farmers. It combines a set of simple soil health tests with a web-based interface that enables farmers (and businesses) to collect, manage, share and store the data needed to work collaboratively to improve soil health. We have received positive feedback on our plans from farmers and businesses, and will be seeking funding for this product in 2021.

Achievements

Throughout the year we have increased our presence and built our profile as a specialist in Sustainable Agriculture, and were selected to produce a policy brief on promoting soil biodiversity, resilience and ecosystem services in European agriculture for Biodiversa.

We are proud to have contributed to the research agenda for soil health in the EU. Our Research Lead, Josephine Head, has a role as a Mission Assembly member for the European Union’s ‘Soil Health, Food Research and Innovation’ mission, part of Horizon Europe 2021-2027. We are also part of the UKSoils initiative alongside the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Sustainable Soils Alliance, The University of Sheffield and Devenish. This group was formed to create an online portal that will serve as a one-stop shop for all things soil.

Corporate partners

We have continued to work with our two long-term partners, Shell and Tate & Lyle, to implement projects around the globe. In April 2020 we concluded our research with Tate & Lyle into the stevia supply chain in China. Our aim was to understand the impact of farming the crop, both for producers and the environment. We hope to continue our work with Tate & Lyle beyond this research and have submitted a proposal for further collaboration.

Through our partnership with Shell we have continued to implement projects working with farmers in the UK and South Africa to improve soil health and biodiversity. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, some planned activity has been postponed and project work has been extended into 2021. Through these projects we are hoping to enable sustainable agricultural land management by exploring methods of human-wildlife coexistence. We will explore these methods by promoting ways of reducing conflict between humans and wildlife in South Africa.

“...working with farmers in the UK and South Africa to improve soil health and biodiversity.”

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Spend: £9,000

Enhancing the health of our coasts

We partner with communities, academics, NGOs, businesses and governments to safeguard the health of our coasts and oceans, identifying ways to improve the health and resilience of coastal biodiversity in the face of climate change and other threats.

areas of reef since 2011, but this is the first time this technique has been brought to the Seychelles and used for the specific reason of decreasing the vulnerability of corals to future climate change.

Objectives

Trial the Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System for the first time in our ongoing Seychelles project, sponsored by Mitsubishi Corporation and working with the Seychelles National Park Authority. This innovative new approach to coral restoration uses coral “reef stars”, steel structures treated and coated in sand, which coral fragments can be attached onto. The reef stars are then secured to the sea floor, and connected together to build a very stable, intricate, web around existing corals, boulders or across barren rubble beds. Using this approach, vast quantities of coral can be transplanted in a short period of time in a ready-made ideal growing environment, the structure of which supports fish communities.

This activity brings together a decade of research in the Seychelles into how certain reef areas and species are better able to withstand thermal events with best-proven practices of coral restoration. The Mars technique was the coral reef restoration practice highlighted as the bright spot and best scalable practice in a recent global review published in a top scientific journal. This new phase of the project aims to increase the abundance of heat-tolerant corals across the reef, to increase the abundance of all corals in thermal refuge areas and to increase national capacity in best restoration practices. Through this project we hope to find solutions to reversing the trend of coral loss and provide hope to those reef systems vulnerable to future climate change.

Achievements

In March 2020, before COVID-19 halted international travel, a team from Earthwatch and Mars visited the Seychelles to train our local partners, the Seychelles National Park Authority, in how to make coral reef stars. Mars have been building coral reef stars and refining their use across large

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the installation of the reef stars has been delayed. We will do this in partnership with the Seychelles National Park Authority and with the support of Mitsubishi Corporation volunteers in 2021.

“...we hope to find solutions to reversing the trend of coral loss and provide hope to those reef systems vulnerable to future climate change..”

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Improving our freshwater environment

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Spend:
£364,000
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We work with communities, schools, water stewardship bodies and businesses to safeguard our waterways from nutrient and plastic pollution.

Earthwatch has extensive in-house expertise in protecting freshwater habits. Our flagship project, FreshWater Watch, enables individuals and communities around the globe to monitor, protect and restore their local water resources, collecting valuable data on freshwater nutrient pollution. In recent years we have extended those expertise to other ways of improving freshwater environments, including researching and reducing plastic pollution.

Objectives

In the past year we have expanded our freshwater project in Zambia, adding a new community on the Zambezi River to the project. The Zambian national Water Management Authority is now actively using citizen science projects to increase spatial and temporal coverage for SDG reporting. FreshWater Watch’s potential to contribute to the SDGs was independently recognised by UN researchers in a high-profile paper in the journal Sustainability Science .

Achievements

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, we have achieved great things in the freshwater programme during FY20.

We delivered website and app upgrades to our FreshWater Watch system, improving user experience when uploading data. This was confirmed during our Autumn Thames WaterBlitz, our most successful to date in the region, funded by Thames Water and with additional support from the Environment Agency. A record-breaking 800 people took part from across the Thames region, revealing medium-high nitrates and phosphates across the catchment, with rivers in agricultural areas having the highest nitrate levels and ponds showing the healthiest results.

Corporate partners and supporters

We worked with new and existing partners throughout FY20 to further our freshwater programme. We continued our partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, engaging citizens and employees in Dublin, Paris and Luxembourg in local freshwater research projects in conjunction with our local research partners.

In August 2020 we also enabled Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust to deliver their fourth Bristol WaterBlitz, engaging over 300 people across the Bristol region over a month-long project. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, our pan-European WaterBlitz events were postponed, but we look forward to hosting them in 2021 and building on the successes we saw this year.

In January 2020, we launched our plastic footprint calculator with support from SC Johnson. So far, it has collected information from and provided tailored advice to over 2,000 people. We look forward to continuing to work with SC Johnson, to improve education and action for fresh water, in FY21.

We have continued using FreshWater Watch to support the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In many developing countries there are huge data gaps due to a lack of statutory monitoring, but local FreshWater Watch groups are able to collect data about their local water bodies. This not only engages and empowers communities to understand and take action for their local water bodies, but also provides data to national authorities to report on an important indicator within SDG 6 (‘Clean Water and Sanitation for All’).

This year we started working with the Environment Agency on their project, Sentinel. Sentinel aims to create a monitoring network across the UK, collecting and collating data from a range of sources. We are also working with UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology to create an integrated map, where citizen science data (including FreshWater Watch data) and Environment Agency data will sit side by side, and be open to all, to help inform management plans, create restoration solutions, and ultimately lead to protection of our precious freshwater ecosystems. We look forward to further developing this area in FY21.

“...engages and empowers communities to understand and take action for their local water bodies...”

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Spend: £928,000

Innovation and capacity building

As a leader in science and engagement, we trial innovative tools and approaches to improve our own practice and that of the wider scientific community. Alongside this, we share our expertise with educators, students, early career scientists and environmental management practitioners, to help ensure that they have the skills they need to make positive changes for the environment.

We focus our work in three key areas:

and, just as importantly, embed these innovations in our own application of citizen science.

Objectives

Innovation in citizen science

The next generation, career development

During this financial year we were partners in five research and innovation projects funded by the European Commission (project budgets totalling approximately €20 million).

and capacity building

These projects innovate and advance the science of citizen science by developing better guidance, tools, methodologies and technologies. As partners we aimed to contribute to the success of the projects

Achievements

Innovation in citizen science

Highlights from this year include:

Our scientists co-authored a number of important publications during this financial year, including:

The next generation

Our face-to-face education activities were on hold at the start of the year whilst additional funding streams were sought and cancelled completely when COVID-19 hit. However, at the end of March 2020, we developed an idea as a dynamic response to the COVID-19 lockdown:

to launch a new platform that connected families to the outdoors via daily videos and activities. With innovation, creativity and cross-organisational support, the platform was launched just nine working days later.

The programme ran for 12 weeks and engaged 5,394 active users. Initially requiring users to pay a subscription fee, Earthwatch secured funding to enable us to offer the resources for free from the third week onwards. One of our funders was the LEGO® Group, a new partner for Earthwatch. In addition to resourcing weeks 7-12 of Wild Days, we collaborated on six further weeks of Wild Days content and resources over the school summer holidays. Our schools team was subsequently commissioned to create resources for LEGO® Group’s Build the Change platform, which encourages children aged 7-12 to think creatively about how we live in the future. Those resources are now being translated into a further 5 different languages.

Career development and capacity building

Through our National Environmental Research Council (NERC) Community for Engaging Environments programme we have developed partnerships with a range of academic partners and NGOs including University of Birmingham and Citizens UK. Our planned science camp for early career researchers in September 2020 was postponed due to COVID-19; we are currently redeveloping it as an online virtual camp, due to be delivered in April 2021. We have been expanding our knowledge and experience of community organising, and of engaging diverse and hard-to-reach communities. This has included codelivering workshops at the Communicate conference, contributing to Operation Earth planning, supporting the development of a Community of Practice at the University of Birmingham around community engagement, and presenting community perspectives at the student CASE conference to enable students to view their projects from community perspectives.

In 2020 we supported seven early career conservationists from Zambia, Nigeria, Peru, Malawi and Ghana, through The Earthwatch Shulman Awards. This enabled them to deliver research and education projects in sustainable agriculture, water quality and monitoring, community watershed restoration initiative as well as developing youth leadership and intercultural community leadership programmes.

The States of Jersey internship and education programmes were placed on hold due to COVID-19. However, the internships and placements for 2021 are now in place and interns will be joining the online virtual camp in April.

*These projects have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.s 689744 [Ground Truth 2.0], 776480 [MONOCLE], 824711 [MICS], 824580 [EU-Citizen.Science] and 863463 [Cos4Cloud] .

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Financial review

Summary

2020 was a very challenging year for Earthwatch Europe due to a combination of a substantial drop in corporate funding and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our income has reduced by more than 50% and our general reserves have reduced by £1m.

learning and education activities to be delivered or supported online.

As we look ahead to 2021, we are projecting a further reduction in general reserves of over £1m. This projection relies on us meeting challenging new income targets. This is against the background of the ongoing pandemic, which is likely to continue affecting income sources from corporates to trusts and foundations and major donors and our ability to run in-person activities. In light of this, we will keep our future forecasts under close review.

The largest part of our ongoing partnership with HSBC ended formally at the beginning of 2020. While we still retain a positive relationship, the income associated with the partnership has shrunk by more than £2m now that the water programme has come to an end. This leaves Earthwatch in an urgent battle to secure new sources of income and impact. This situation has been exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19, which has contributed to slow progress in generating new income.

The financial results relate to the operations of Earthwatch Europe (Conservation Education & Research Trust); please see below for the range of connected international charities within the Earthwatch family. Whilst our focus is on the UK, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India, we have many programmes that take us further afield and a number of international programmes in which we collaborate with other Earthwatch charities.

The arrival of COVID-19, particularly its timing at the beginning of spring, limited our impact as it caused the postponement or cancellation of many of the inperson projects and activities that we had planned for 2020. However, we responded by creating new exciting projects for the public and adapted our

Income

Income has reduced significantly in 2020, driven by the lower income from corporate partnerships, predominantly HSBC.

had to withdraw any capital from our investment portfolio (established in 2018) to support our operations, but may do so in 2021.

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2020 2019
Source of income % change
(£‘000) (£‘000)
Corporate
1,159 3,619 -68%
partnerships
Research grants 438 550 -20%
Trust, foundation
107 33 +224%
and other grants
Major donors
35 57 -39%
and legacies
Unrestricted
80 54 +46%
individual income
Interest &
investment 150 177 -15%
income
JRS Income 88 0 n/a
Total 2,056 4,490 -54%
----- End of picture text -----

We retain a relationship with HSBC and have significant partnerships with Shell and the Mitsubishi Corporation, as well as a range of other partners including SC Johnson, The Royal Bank of Canada and Tate & Lyle.

We were disappointed not to receive additional research grants during 2020, but retained a healthy portfolio of projects funded by the EU and UK Research Councils. One of our biggest funding successes in 2020 was securing grant funding from the OVO Foundation to plant at least twelve Tiny Forests. This grant will also support a range of education activities on the planting sites with local schools. We had a range of new supporters for our Wild Days campaign during the UK lockdown in the spring with the Tomoro Foundation, Lego Group and Neville Shulman contributing.

Our investment income has been strong despite the turbulence of the markets during 2020. We have not

Expenditure

Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA). Objectives and achievements in each area are laid out above in the Trustees Report and a detailed analysis of expenditure is shown in Note 4 of the financial statements below.

Total expenditure reduced by nearly £1m in 2020. We have seen a significant income drop, which has contributed to an expenditure decrease. We have used our general funds to support key projects (such as Naturehood and education activities) without external funding. This support from general funds cannot continue in perpetuity and we must be successful in fundraising in 2021 to ensure the continued success of these activities.

----- Start of picture text -----
Type of 2020 2019
% change
expenditure (£‘000) (£‘000)
Cost of raising
592 498 +19%
funds
Improving our
freshwater 364 318 +14%
environment
Sustainable
355 589 -40%
agriculture
Creating thriving
places to live 2,345 2,591 -9%
and work
Coasts 9 100 -91%
Innovation and
928 1,540 -40%
capacity building
Total 4,594 5,635 -18%
----- End of picture text -----

The reduction in expenditure within our coastal health programme is due to an accounting correction: we held an accrual for work completed in 2019 which was too high due to a change in the way the work was delivered. Expenditure on coasts would have been lower in any case, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused a temporary pause to work in the Seychelles.

We upgraded our CRM system early in the year to strengthen our GDPR compliance, increase efficiency and understand the individuals involved in our work more effectively.

Expenditure is classified into our five key strategic focus areas, along with fundraising on the

In summary, this is how we spent our funds:

Improving our freshwater environment - £364k (2019: £318k)

Thriving places to live and work

and sharing our expertise with educators, students, early career scientists and environmental management practitioners, to help ensure that they have the skills they need to make positive changes for the environment. Our innovation activities act as an umbrella, enhancing our work across our other four themes.

- £2,345k (2019: £2,591k)

Working with city councils, businesses and communities to create greener, healthier and safer cities.

Working with communities, schools, water stewardship bodies and businesses to safeguard our waterways from pollution.

Improving the health of our coasts - £9k (2019: £100k)

Sustainable agriculture - £355k (2019: £589k) Supporting farmers and land managers to test and embed evidence-based, environmentally-sustainable, practices and investigating opportunities for increased sustainability in agriculturebased supply chains.

Partnering with communities, academics, NGOs, business and governments to safeguard the health of our coasts and oceans.

Earthwatch Ltd (registered in Hong Kong) is consolidated into the SOFA and in the Group figures on the balance sheet (see note 12). The impact of this consolidation is minimal, as all the income for Earthwatch Ltd is received from Conservation Education & Research Trust.

Innovation and capacity building

- £928k (2019: £1,540k)

Trialling innovative tools and approaches to improve our own practice and that of the wider scientific community,

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Reserves

made up of unrestricted funds held as fixed assets, eg equipment (£40k); and funds that are already committed to delivering existing projects across our strategic priorities that originate from a variety of funders. These funds have not been restricted by the funder (£1.4m, 2019: £1.7m), but all are allocated for spending in 2021 or beyond with little possibility of redirection.

General reserves

The Trustees continue to maintain six months’ cover for operating costs (target: £1.9m) in order to meet Charity Commission guidelines. At 30 September 2020, General Funds for the charity stood at £3.2m (2019: £4.2m) representing approximately 10 months’ operating costs. This level of reserves suggests that we remain comfortable with a significant buffer above our stated target, but this does not take into account our future anticipated spending. Following a £1m reduction in 2020 we have budgeted a similar reduction in 2021, which would take us very close to our target.

Restricted funds

The restricted fund balance is made up of funds that have been received in advance, but are committed to specific programmes as requested by donors. At 30 September 2020, they stand at £2.0m (2019: £3.1m).

We face a significant challenge to ensure that this trend does not continue. In longer-term planning, we expect to return to a break-even position in 2023. The requirement for our reserves to support the running costs of the organisation dramatically reduces our ability to invest in new projects to secure our future income. We will continue to invest in the right projects that we believe have impact and high long-term fundraising potential, but we must see results sooner rather than later if we are not to dip into our core reserves.

These restricted funds originate from a mix of funders and are scheduled for expenditure on research and other activities in 2021 and future years. This includes a balance of £427k held across a number of EU research grants; these are longerterm projects and balances will be held until their completion in 2021 and 2022.

Endowment funds

Earthwatch Europe holds a balance of £1m (2019: £1.0m) in Endowment Funds, which represents an endowment provided by the Sultanate of Oman. The interest earned was intended to support Omani students and scientists to participate in our projects. This progress of this fund has been hampered initially by low interest rates and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to start this in 2021, if we can do so safely.

In the Group accounts, there is a further fund which represents the net current assets held in Hong Kong (£139k). They have been set aside, as they must be used for expenditure within Hong Kong.

Designated funds

The designated fund balance for the charity is a combination of two elements: the Capital Fund

Investment strategy

Earthwatch holds the majority of its funds in an investment portfolio managed by Sarasin. The funds held and the returns on each are shown in the table below. Earthwatch Europe’s investment policy is to produce the best financial return with an acceptable level of risk. The objective for funds held in the long term is to generate a return at least in line with inflation (RPI), with shorter-term funds preserving their capital value with a minimum level of risk.

The funds are subject to positive screening to ensure that our investments match our charitable objectives. In particular, we are proud to have our long-term reserves (£1.8m) invested in Sarasin’s Climate Active Fund.

The Sarasin & Partners Climate Active Endowment Fund is a multi-asset investment portfolio that aims to bring about, and benefit from, action by businesses to strengthen their resilience to climate change in line with the Paris Climate Accord. Investment and divestment decisions are made using a case-by-case assessment of the vulnerability of each company to climate change and whether it will be able to develop a climateaware strategy that will deliver attractive long-term returns for shareholders. This is a very similar approach to the one that Earthwatch takes with its own corporate partnerships, and we are therefore pleased to be able to invest in such a fund with Sarasin.

Both the Finance Committee and the Board review the performance of the funds on a quarterly basis and meet regularly with Sarasin & Partners to discuss performance and investment. Our investment strategy is subject to review on a regular basis with the next one scheduled for early 2021. The purpose of these reviews is to ensure that we are both maximising returns on the funds we hold and ensuring that our investment strategy continues to align with our charitable and strategic objectives.

Earthwatch still holds a significant proportion of its funds in interest-bearing deposit accounts with various banking institutions as per the below table.

----- Start of picture text -----
Interest
Bank Type of Amount held rate/Return
Account at 30.9.20
in period
0.6% to 31st
instant
Nationwide £351k March &
access
0.05% after
current
Barclays £2.46m n/a
accounts
1-3 month
Sarasin £1.02m 0.7%
deposits
Income and
Sarasin reserves £2.25m 4.3%
fund
Climate
Sarasin £1.76m 7.6%
Active Fund
----- End of picture text -----

Remuneration policy

Our approach to remuneration is designed to ensure we can attract and retain the talented and motivated people we need to achieve our mission and deliver our strategic goals. It is applied consistently across the organisation, both in terms of how we set salaries and the benefits we offer our employees. Pay is reviewed annually by the Executive, and an increase amount (rather than a percentage increase) can be agreed for all employees with over six months’ service. This is set by taking account of the market, cost of living increases and the organisation’s ability to pay. We offer paid internships and review and maintain internal pay relativities; pay progression is linked to development in the role and growth of the role. Our salaries and benefits are compared to other similar not-for-profit organisations.

Gender pay gap

At the end of our financial year, the average hourly salary for women in the organisation was 15% below the average hourly salary for men (2019: 22% below). In median pay the hourly figure for women was 13% below the median hourly pay for men (2019: 16% below).

Both of these figures demonstrate progress, but we recognise there is more to do. This is now a key pillar of our diversity and inclusion work.

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Earthwatch Europe is far below the threshold for reporting on gender pay (with fewer than 250 employees), but we believe it is important for organisations to be transparent. However, as a smaller organisation, individuals that fill certain positions (whether male or female) can have a larger bearing on the statistics.

During 2020, we had the following split of men and women in each pay quartile:

Lowest quartile : Men – 31% Women – 69% (2019: Men – 12% Women – 88%) Average pay for men in this quartile is 14% below women (2019: 12% above).

2nd quartile : Men – 19% Women – 81% (2019: Men – 24% Women – 76%) Average pay for men in this quartile is 4% above women (2019: 3% above)

3rd quartile : Men – 37% Women – 63% (2019: Men – 35% Women – 65%) Average pay for men and women in this quartile is equal. (2019: women 1% below)

Top quartile : Men – 47% Women – 53% (2019: Men – 47% Women – 53%) Average pay for men in the quartile is 13% above women (2019: 15% above)

Females make up 65% of the workforce in 2020, with a higher proportion of females to males in all quartiles except the top quartile where it is equal.

We have recently instituted an additional holistic review on salaries to ensure that we do not have discrepancies between individuals doing the same role with a similar level of experience. In addition, in the review at the end of the financial year, we will publish pay band information to our staff to increase transparency.

Diversity and Inclusion at Earthwatch

In 2020, Earthwatch Europe launched a Diversity and Inclusion working group to review and recognise where we have a lack of diversity of thought, experience and background in our organisation and seek to address it. The environmental sector has poor racial diversity, with a 2017 study suggesting that only 0.6% of the workforce identifies as nonwhite, compared with the 2011 UK census figure of 14%, however, we aren’t limiting our work to racial diversity, instead seeking to create a culture in which everyone can be themselves and feel valued. This work will initially focus internally

before addressing diversity and inclusivity within the people who participate in our projects. Whilst recognising the need to examine the way our own organisation is run, we are also joining with other organisations in our sector to support and participate in collaborative initiatives.

The Diversity and Inclusion working group will focus on the following priority areas identified by the team:

How we talk about diversity and inclusion at Earthwatch

How do we ensure it is a conversation and not just another process? How do we build understanding and awareness, guiding a culture of inclusivity and thinking differently?

Inclusivity in learning, development and engagement

How can we take into account that people learn and engage in different ways and not restrict opportunities for advancement to those who ‘fit a certain mould’? How are visible and invisible disabilities acknowledged and supported at the hiring stage, and within roles and responsibilities?

Subconscious bias

How do we recognise subconscious bias and what strategies can individuals and teams use to address it?

Inclusivity in hiring and internships

How do we attract the broadest set of candidates?

Understanding and eliminating our gender pay gap

We have a gender pay gap according to our Annual Report – are we using the correct measurements, and how do we improve?

We look forward to reporting back on our progress as an organisation and as a sector.

Statement of going concern

The Trustees are satisfied that the charity is a going concern and has the resources to deliver its strategic plan and operate indefinitely. Earthwatch has a strong base of confirmed funding sources for 2020 and beyond, with resources in place to deliver a strategic plan which will result in increased funding, an increase in the diversity of funding and a big increase in the impact that we make. Earthwatch holds a minimum level of six months’ operating costs in reserves to ensure that the charity can continue to exist and have impact if some income sources cease. There are no post-balance sheet events which will require adjustments to the accounts.

Administration and governance

At the beginning of 2020, the Trustees made a decision to recruit a number of new Trustees to the Board. The process was due to begin in spring, but a decision was made to delay this to autumn due to the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns at that time in Europe. New Trustees joined the Board early in 2021. Trustees were selected in a manner consistent with the organisation’s recruitment and diversity and equality policies, ensuring that the selection process is time and cost effective. The Trustee recruitment and selection process is managed by the Nominations Committee. In addition to making direct approaches to suitable candidates, Earthwatch Europe advertised across a wide selection of networks and the process has been facilitated by our external recruitment advisors, Whitehall & Industry Group.

Other working names:

Earthwatch Institute (Europe), Earthwatch (Europe), Earthwatch Institute

Company number: 4373313

Charity number: 1094467

Registered office and operational address: Mayfield House, 256 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DE

Country of registration: England & Wales Country of incorporation: United Kingdom

Trustees

The Trustees who were in office throughout the year and up to the point of approval of these financial statements, unless otherwise stated, were as follows:

In order to complement and enhance the current Board, new Trustees were sought who can bring expertise and connections in one or more of the following areas:

Lucian J. Hudson Chair Geoff Lane Vice-Chair Superna Khosla Treasurer Judith Mosely (resigned October 2019) Iain Coucher Dorothee D’Herde Lisa King Dax Lovegrove Ed Green Adam Powell Jack Matthews Nina Bhola (joined Jan 2021) Cristian Parrino (joined Jan 2021) Emily Murrell (joined Jan 2021) Ben Wilson (joined Jan 2021) Jos Huijbregts (joined Jan 2021)

The average age of our Trustees at 30 September 2020 was 52 (2019: 51); this is significantly lower than the average age of a Trustee across the voluntary sector, which is 61 (Charity Commission report, January 2017).

This process culminated in five new Trustees joining the Board (listed above). These new Trustees cover a wide range of the categories above between them.

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Earthwatch provides Trustees with governance training when they join the organisation. As part of their induction, Trustees will also spend time with the Chief Executive and relevant members of the Executive Management Team who will provide them with an overview of Earthwatch Europe and its current priorities and challenges. A Trustee handbook, which contains all relevant background information and links to key documents, is also provided.

Key management personnel

Steven Andrews Chief Executive

Neil Bailey Philanthropy Director Maria Pontes Programmes & Partnerships Director (maternity leave from July 2020) Clara Stevenson Programmes & Partnerships Director (maternity cover from August 2020) John Ward-Zinski Business Development Director (maternity cover from August 2020) Toos Van Noordwijk Science, Policy and Innovation Director Anna Shannon HR Director (departed April 2020) Peter Stimpson Operations Director Isabella Murfin & Naomi Matthiessen Directors of Strategic Planning (job-share) (departed March 2020)

The total aggregated salary cost of management personnel in 2020 was £372k (2018: £305k). The increase in 2020 is due to the gap between Chief Executives (which supressed the 2019 figure) and the costs of handover in 2020 for the new maternity cover roles.

been shared between the Chief Executive and the Operations Director. The HR Director, Anna Shannon, departed in April 2020 after more than five years with Earthwatch Europe. She also leaves us with a great legacy, transforming the HR function into a genuinely strategic resource for the organisation, overhauling our approach to recruitment and strengthening our policy framework. Anna’s role has been subsumed into the Operations Director role.

The Directors of Strategic Planning, Isabella Murfin & Naomi Matthiessen, departed Earthwatch following the completion of their 21 month secondment from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. They leave a fantastic legacy, having managed the creation and embedding of our new strategy and significantly improved our internal processes enabling clearer decision making. The aspects of their role that need to continue have

Following Maria Pontes’ maternity leave, her role was split into two with the business development function becoming a separate department. This will put us in a strong position to secure new funding in 2021 and beyond.

Governance structure

The Board Governance, direction and fiscal responsibility

The Executive Strategy development and day-to-day management

Ad-hoc Working Groups Examples include Investment Committee and Corporate Partnership Development Group

Finance Committee Nominations Committee Recommend decisions on Recommend recruitment financial, risk and audit matters of new Trustees

Auditors, Bankers, Solicitors

Auditor : Sayer Vincent LLP Investment Manager : Sarasin & Partners LLP Bankers : Barclays Bank plc, Oxford; Nationwide plc Solicitors : Blake Morgan LLP, Oxford, and Stone King LLP, London

Risk management

The Executive Team reviews risks regularly and produces a full risk register for discussion at least once per year at Board level with regular summaries of movements in key risks provided frequently throughout the year. A key risk mitigation summary is included along with any details of further work to mitigate key risks.

Key risk Explanation Mitigation
Failure to secure
new revenue and
meet fnancial
targets.		 Our impact depends on being able to
secure funds. Our major partnership with
HSBC came to an end in 2020 and we
are facing a battle to add new funders.
The pandemic and potential economic
disruption has only made this more acute.		 Our ability to raise funds relies on having an
appealing and impactful portfolio of work, and
we have worked hard to ensure each of our
programmes address urgent environmental
issues and are accessible to our volunteers
and participants. We are confdent in our
fundraising teams’ ability to deliver funds
based on the strength of this offering.
Brexit limits
opportunities
and EWE
workforce.		 The uncertainty over Brexit outcomes
could result in difculty accessing
EU grants, employing EU nationals
and retaining staff already working in
the UK from other EU countries.		 We are closely monitoring developments
and providing support and guidance to
EWE staff. We have established a small
operation in the Netherlands in order to
pursue opportunities in mainland Europe.
Restrictions due
to COVID-19 or
other external
threats stalling
delivery across
programmes.		 Many of the activities we undertake
involve people meeting in groups and
this has been signifcantly impacted by
restrictions on movement introduced
in the UK and other countries.		 At the beginning of the pandemic, we found
ways to continue to deliver projects online or
by providing guidance online for individuals
or small groups who were able to undertake
activities in the feld. Whilst this has been
a great success, we are prevented from
having as great an impact as we could.

Connected charities

The Charity works in association with the following affiliated licensed charities who all have similar missions, and contribute to and participate in the same international programme of science and engagement activities.

Earthwatch Europe harnesses this network of connected charities to ensure global capability to deliver large-scale programmes and partnerships. The coverage across the Americas, Asia and Australia means that we can deliver globally whilst retaining a local focus.

Earthwatch
Australia
126 Bank Street
South Melbourne
Victoria 3205
Australia
Tel: +61 3 9682 6828		 Earthwatch
Expeditions Inc.
1380 Soldiers Field
Road, Suite 2700,
Boston, MA 01235,
USA
Tel: +1 800 776-0188		 Earthwatch Ltd,
Hong Kong
Room 901/4,
Hang Seng North
Point Building,
341 King’s Road,
North Point
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 28381114		 Earthwatch Institute,
India
459 Augusta Point,
Level 4, Sector 53,
Golf Course Road,
Gurgaon, 122002,
India
Tel: +91 124 4354160		 Earthwatch Institute,
Japan
Food Science
Building 4F
University of Tokyo
1-1-1, Yayoi,
Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-8657
Japan
Tel: + 81-3-6686-0300

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Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of Conservation Education & Research Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report including the strategic report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Conservation Education & Research Trust

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

This Report, which includes the strategic report, was approved by the Trustees on 26 February 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

Lucian J Hudson Chair

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Conservation Education & Research Trust (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 30 September 2020 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the group and parent charitable company balance sheets, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the group financial statements section of our report.

We are independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report, other than the group financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the group financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the group financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other

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information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the group financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the group financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the parent charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s and the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with those Acts.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

• Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the group’s or the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the group or the parent charitable company to cease to continue as a going concern.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor) 8 April 2021

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor

Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

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Conservation Education & Research Trust

Company no. 4373313

Financial statements

Balance sheets

As at 30 September 2020

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Consolidated statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 30 September 2020

20 20 20 20 20 20 20
2020
Unrestricted
Endowment
Restricted
Total

£
£
£
£
168,035
-
-
168,035
996,806
-
740,580
1,737,386
135,477
6,939
7,948
150,364		 2019
Total
£
111,525
4,201,525
176,507
1,300,318 6,939 748,528 2,055,785 1,938,220 9,651 2,541,686 4,489,557
592,132
1,262,142
355,388
9,150
303,904
661,721		 -
-
-
1,082,991
-
-
-
-
-
60,202
96
266,249		 592,132
2,345,133
355,388
9,150
364,106
928,066		 497,623
2,591,038
589,018
99,683
317,761
1,540,070
3,184,437 96 1,409,442 4,593,975 2,461,598 14,885 3,158,710 5,635,193
-
-
(660,914)
6,843		 56,333
(2,538,190)		 213,368
(1,145,636)
(1,827,786)
6,843
(660,914)
378,943
(60)
(378,883)		 (2,481,857)
-		 (932,268)
-
(1,448,843)
6,783
(1,039,797)
31,462
-
-		 (2,481,857)
31,462		 (932,268)
(50,936)
6,783
(1,039,797)
1,033,865
3,134,454		 (2,450,395)
10,219,565		 (983,204)
11,202,769

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 18a to the financial statements.

Note
Fixed assets:
10
11
Current assets:
14
Liabilities:
15
17a
18a
Endowment funds
Total unrestricted funds
Total funds
Non-charitable trading funds
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds:
Designated funds
General funds
Tangible assets
Investments
Funds:
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets		 The group
2020
£
39,920
5,019,004		 2019
£
88,169
5,589,154		 The charity
2020
£
39,920
5,019,004		 2019
£
77,932
5,589,154
5,058,924
165,270
2,837,979		 5,677,323
463,057
4,674,703		 5,058,924
164,584
2,824,548		 5,667,086
439,307
4,632,086
3,003,249
(293,003)		 5,137,760
(595,518)		 2,989,132
(417,641)		 5,071,393
(729,797)
2,710,246 4,542,242 2,571,491 4,341,596
7,769,170 10,219,565 7,630,415 10,008,682
1,040,640
1,956,956
1,396,128
3,236,691
138,755		 1,033,865
3,134,454
1,664,740
4,175,623
210,883		 1,040,640
1,956,956
1,396,128
3,236,691
-		 1,033,865
3,134,454
1,664,740
4,175,623
-
4,771,574 6,051,246 4,632,819 5,840,363
7,769,170 10,219,565 7,630,415 10,008,682

Approved by the Trustees on 26 February 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Lucian J. Hudson Chair

32

33

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

Cash flows from operating activities
Net income / (expenditure) for the reporting period
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
(Gains)/losses on investments
Dividends, interest and rent from investments
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash (used in) / provided by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
Purchase of fixed assets
Proceeds from sale of investments
Purchase of investments
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Net cash used in investing activities
Movement in cash held by investment managers		 2020
£
(2,450,395)
48,915
(56,333)
(150,364)
297,787
(302,515)		 2020
£
(2,612,905)		 2019
£
(983,204)
58,867
(213,368)
(176,507)
(22,990)
(146,588)		 2019
£
(1,483,790)
150,364
(666)
35,919
3,751,876
(3,161,312)		 176,507
(7,552)
(35,947)
8,254,018
(8,275,711)
776,181 111,315
(1,836,724)
4,674,703		 (1,372,475)
6,047,178
2,837,979 4,674,703

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

The registered office address is Mayfield House, 256 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DE.

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charitable company and its wholly-owned subsidiary Earthwatch Limited on a line by line basis. Transactions and balances between the charitable company and its subsidiary have been eliminated from the consolidated financial statements. Balances between the two companies are disclosed in the notes of the charitable company's balance sheet. A separate statement of financial activities, or income and expenditure account, for the charitable company itself is not presented because the charitable company has taken advantage of the exemptions afforded by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually

evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.

The Trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

34

35

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the Trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

g) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

h) Fund accounting

Endowment funds represent donations which are treated as capital.

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds allocated by the Trustees for particular purposes.

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose

Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering services and educational activities undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs

Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

j)

Grants payable

Grants payable are made to third parties in furtherance of the charity's objects. Single or multi-year grants are accounted for when either the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and the Trustees have agreed to pay the grant without condition, or the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and that any condition attaching to the grant is outside of the control of the charity.

Provisions for grants are made when the intention to make a grant has been communicated to the recipient, but there is uncertainty about either the timing of the grant or the amount of grant payable.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

k) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

Support and governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on staff cost, of the amount attributable to each activity:


cost, of the amount attributable to each activity:
Thriving places to live and work 48%
Enabling sustainable agricultural land management 9%
Enhancing the health of our coasts 1%
Improving our freshwater environment 13%
Innovation and capacity building 29%

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

l) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

Tangible fixed assets

m)

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Major components are treated as a separate asset where they have significantly different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and are depreciated separately over its useful life.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Leasehold improvements Life of the lease
Furniture and equipment 5-7 years
Computer equipment 3-5 years

n) Listed investments

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. Any change in fair value will be recognised in the statement of financial activities and any excess of fair value over the historic cost of the investments will be shown as a fair value reserve in the balance sheet. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are combined and shown in the heading “Net gains/(losses) on investments” in the statement of financial activities. The charity does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

o)

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

p) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

36

37

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

q) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

r) Financial instruments

The charity has both basic and non-basic financial assets and financial liabilities. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value, with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Non-basic financial instruments are measured at fair value with any gain or loss going to the statement of financial activities.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

2 Income from donations and legacies

Income from donations and legacies
Donations
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
All income from donations and legacies is unrestricted.		 2020
Total
£
80,086
87,949		 2019
Total
£
111,525
-
168,035 111,525

3 Income from charitable activities

s) Foreign currency transactions

Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into sterling using the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transaction. Exchange differences are taken into account in arriving at the net incoming resources for the year.

t) Pensions

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme on behalf of its employees. The assets of this scheme is held separately from those of the charitable company in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the charitable company to the fund. The charitable company has no liability other than for the payment of those contributions.

Corporate donations
Other grants and donations
Total		 Unrestricted
£
942,737
54,069		 Restricted
£
216,457
524,123		 2020
Total
£
1,159,194
578,192		 Unrestricted
£
1,568,869
111,114		 Restricted
£
2,049,866
471,676		 2019
Total
£
3,618,735
582,790
996,806 740,580 1,737,386 1,679,983 2,521,542 4,201,525

38

39

4a
Cost of raising
funds
Thriving
places to live
and work
sustainable
agricultural
land
management
Enhancing
the health of
our coasts
Improving our
freshwater
environment
Innovation
and capacity
building
Governance
costs
Support costs
2020
Total
2019
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
Staff costs
450,751
615,457
121,247
10,473
172,984
366,321
49,565
559,851
2,346,649
2,224,004
Research and field costs
-
184,912
52,265
(2,671)
2,043
151,252
-
-
387,801
706,647
Engagement costs
-
637,702
72,976
(8,743)
12,113
88,836
-
-
802,884
1,021,547
Research & engagement by affiliates
-
308,582
-
-
-
-
-
-
308,582
878,712
Development and fundraising
141,381
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
141,381
109,934
Audit
-
-
-
-
-
-
15,352
-
15,352
13,484
Trustee costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,272
-
1,272
4,443
Office costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
210,176
210,176
215,071
IT costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
102,352
102,352
28,467
Finance & HR costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
112,044
112,044
233,724
Other costs
-
78,041
6,372
1,235
30,688
11,891
-
37,255
165,482
199,160
592,132
1,824,694
252,860
294
217,828
618,300
66,189
1,021,678
4,593,975
5,635,193
Support costs
-
488,774
96,290
8,317
137,378
290,919
-
(1,021,678)
-
-
Governance costs
-
31,665
6,238
539
8,900
18,847
(66,189)
-
-
-
Total expenditure 2020
592,132
2,345,133
355,388
9,150
364,106
928,066
-
-
4,593,975
Total expenditure 2019
497,623
2,591,038
589,018
99,683
317,761
1,540,070
-
-
5,635,193
Analysis of expenditure (current year)
Charitable activities
Conservation Education & Research Trust
Notes to the financial statements
For the year ended 30 September 2020		 4b
Cost of raising
funds
Thriving places
to live and work
Enabling
sustainable
agricultural land
Enhancing the
health of our
coasts
Improving our
freshwater
environment
Innovation and
capacity
building
Governance
costs
Support costs
2019
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
Staff costs
387,689
483,972
121,613
16,751
111,441
532,126
44,237
526,175
2,224,004
Research and field costs
-
368,419
126,766
-
9,000
202,462
-
-
706,647
Engagement costs
-
424,789
193,454
67,813
77,119
258,372
-
-
1,021,547
Research & engagement by affiliates
-
841,736
36,976
-
-
-
-
-
878,712
Development and fundraising
109,934
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
109,934
Audit
-
-
-
-
-
-
13,484
-
13,484
Trustee costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
4,443
-
4,443
Office costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
215,071
215,071
IT costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
28,467
28,467
Finance & HR costs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
233,724
233,724
Other costs
-
35,753
558
15
19,722
67,323
-
75,789
199,160
497,623
2,154,669
479,367
84,579
217,282
1,060,283
62,164
1,079,226
5,635,193
Support costs
-
412,603
103,679
14,281
95,007
453,656
-
(1,079,226)
-
Governance costs
-
23,766
5,972
823
5,472
26,131
(62,164)
-
-
Total expenditure 2019
497,623
2,591,038
589,018
99,683
317,761
1,540,070
-
-
5,635,193
Charitable activities
Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

40

41

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

5 Net income for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
2020 2019
£ £
Depreciation on tangible fixed assets 48,915 58,867
Operating lease rentals:
Property 96,000 86,400
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 12,650 12,300
Under/(over) accrual from prior year (512) (1,092)
Other services 864 1,576
Foreign exchange (gains) or losses (31,462) 50,936

6 Analysis of staff costs, Trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Social security costs
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Redundancy and termination costs
Salaries and wages		 2020
£
2,042,302
-
204,369
99,978		 2019
£
1,931,212
18,844
181,359
92,589
2,346,649 2,224,004

The following number of employees received employee benefits in excess of £60,000 (excluding employer national insurance and employer pension costs) during the year between:

2020 2019
No. No.
£90,000 - £99,999 1 -

The total employee benefits (including employer national insurance and employer pension contributions) of the key management personnel were £372,182 (2019: £299,806).

The charity Trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2019: £nil). No charity Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2019: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £1,272 (2019: £4,443) incurred by 10 (2019: 10) members relating to attendance at meetings of the Trustees.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

10 Tangible fixed assets

The group

At the end of the year
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
Cost
Depreciation
Disposals in year
Additions in year
Net book value
At the start of the year
Eliminated on disposal
Charge for the year
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
The charity
At the start of the year
Cost
At the start of the year
Charge for the year
At the end of the year
Net book value
Additions in year
Depreciation
At the start of the year
At the end of the year
At the end of the year		 Leasehold
improvements
£
60,503
-
-		 Furniture and
equipment
£
125,612
666
(39,240)		 Computer
equipment
£
356,126
-
-		 Total
£
542,241
666
(39,240)
60,503 87,038 356,126 503,667
25,094
6,050
-		 98,448
19,897
(39,240)		 330,530
22,968
-		 454,072
48,915
(39,240)
31,144 79,105 353,498 463,747
29,359 7,933 2,628 39,920
35,409 27,164 25,596 88,169
Leasehold
improvements
£
60,503
-		 Furniture and
equipment
£
86,372
666		 Computer
equipment
£
356,126
-		 Total
£
503,001
666
60,503 87,038 356,126 503,667
25,094
6,050		 69,445
9,660		 330,530
22,968		 425,069
38,678
31,144 79,105 353,498 463,747
29,359 7,933 2,628 39,920
35,409 16,927 25,596 77,932

7 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

2020 2019
No. No.
66 65

8 Related party transactions

Aggregate donations from related parties were £950 (2019: £Nil).

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

42

43

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

11 Investments The group and charity

The group and charity
Movement in cash held by investment managers
Investments comprise:
Disposal proceeds
UK Common investment funds
Fair value at the start of the year
Additions at cost
Fair value at the end of the year
Net (loss)/gain on change in fair value		 2020
£
5,553,207
3,161,312
(3,751,876)
56,333		 2019
£
5,318,146
8,275,711
(8,254,018)
213,368
5,018,976 5,553,207
28 35,947
5,019,004 5,589,154
£
5,018,976		 £
5,553,207
5,018,976 5,553,207

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

12 Subsidiary undertaking

The charity controls the subsidiary, Earthwatch Limited, a company limited by guarantee incorporated in Hong Kong, by virtue of having an employee who is a Trustee of the subsidiary. Control was deemed to have passed to the charity as of 1 October 2013. The subsidiary is engaged in the same charitable activities as the charity. All activities have been consolidated on a line by line basis in the statement of financial activities, based on the audited financial statements as at 30 September which are prepared in Hong Kong dollars (HK$). The results have been converted at the year-end exchange rate of 9.97 HK$ per £ (2019: 9.63 HK$ per £).

Anna Shannon, ex-HR Director, Peter Stimpson, Director of Operations and Scott Kania, CEO of Earthwatch Expeditions, our US affiliate are also directors of the subsidiary.

A summary of the results of the subsidiary is shown below:

Income and expenditure

Income and expenditure Income and expenditure Income and expenditure
Balance sheet
13
14
2020
2019
£
£
34,741
115,485
15,471
41,058
115,058
306,514
165,270
463,057
Reserves carried forward
Incoming resources
Parent charity
Funds
Fixed assets
Reserves brought forward
Current liabilities
The aggregate of the assets, liabilities and funds was:
Current assets
Result for the year
Gross income
Debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Trade debtors
The group
Profit/(loss) for the year
Outgoing charitable resources
The parent charity's gross income and the results for the year are disclosed as follows:
Other debtors		 2020
£
37,081
(109,209)		 2,019
£
170,205
(200,195)
(72,128)
210,883		 (29,990)
240,873
138,755 210,883
-
153,925
(15,170)		 10,237
207,514
(6,868)
138,755 210,883
2020
£
2,055,785
(2,450,395)		 2019
£
4,489,557
(983,204)
165,270 463,057 164,584 439,307

44

45

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

15 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors
Deferred income (note 18)
Accruals and other creditors
Taxation and social security
Amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings		 2020
2019
£
£
12,692
174,722
13,510
781
-
-
266,801
337,678
-
82,337
293,003
595,518
The group		 2020
2019
£
£
12,692
174,722
13,510
781
-
-
266,801
337,678
-
82,337
293,003
595,518
The group		 2020
2019
£
£
12,692
174,722
13,510
781
139,809
141,145
251,630
330,812
-
82,337
417,641
729,797
The charity		 2020
2019
£
£
12,692
174,722
13,510
781
139,809
141,145
251,630
330,812
-
82,337
417,641
729,797
The charity
293,003 595,518 417,641 729,797

16 Deferred income

Deferred income comprises payments in advance of volunteers participating in projects and corporate donations received where the project will not commence until the following financial year.

Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year		 2020
2019
£
£
82,337
98,129
(82,337)
(98,129)
-
82,337
-
82,337
The group		 2020
2019
£
£
82,337
98,129
(82,337)
(98,129)
-
82,337
-
82,337
The group		 2020
2019
£
£
82,337
98,129
(82,337)
(98,129)
-
82,337
-
82,337
The charity		 2020
2019
£
£
82,337
98,129
(82,337)
(98,129)
-
82,337
-
82,337
The charity
- 82,337 - 82,337

17a Analysis of group net assets between funds (current year)

General
unrestricted
funds
£
-
5,019,004
(1,643,558)		 Designated
funds
£
39,920
-
1,356,208		 £
-
-
1,040,640
Endowment
funds		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
1,956,956		 Total funds
£
39,920
5,019,004
2,710,246
3,375,446 1,396,128 1,040,640 1,956,956 7,769,170

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

18a Movements in funds (current year)

Total endowment funds
Restricted funds:
OVO - Tiny Forests
Wild Days
Natural Environment Research Council
S C Johnson
Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
Non-charitable trading funds
40th anniversary fellowship
Total funds
Unrestricted funds:
Respires
COS4Cloud
Jersey
HSBC SLP Programme
Other funds
Endowment funds:
MICS
Neville Shulman Earthwatch Award
EU - MONOCLE
HSBC WA / STP
Groundtruth
EU Citizen
Total unrestricted funds
Designated funds:
Capital fund
Other
HSBC Climate Partnership		 At 1 October
2019
£
1,033,865		 Income & gains
£
6,939		 Expenditure &
losses
£
(156)		 Transfers
£
(8)		 At 30
September
2020
£
1,040,640
1,033,865 6,939 (156) (8) 1,040,640
66,719
33,164
77,987
1,218,259
267,538
1,151,781
236,478
-
82,528
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 -
106,745
-
7,948
49,099
-
110,305
-
13,301
1,152
183,111
80,900
32,728
38,390
95,000
29,849		 (21,263)
(47,158)
(1,509)
-
(135,725)
(1,079,901)
(247,844)
-
(52,680)
(1,152)
(72,869)
(5,973)
(32,728)
(38,390)
(54,013)
(29,849)		 (2,363)
-
-
-
-
(71,880)
(24,728)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(6,001)
-		 43,093
92,751
76,478
1,226,207
180,912
-
74,211
-
43,149
-
110,242
74,927
-
-
34,986
-
3,134,454 748,528 (1,821,054) (104,972) 1,956,956
88,169
1,576,571		 -
996,806		 (48,915)
(1,230,471)		 666
13,302		 39,920
1,356,208
1,664,740 996,806 (1,279,386) 13,968 1,396,128
4,175,623
210,883		 303,512
37,081		 (1,333,456)
(109,209)		 91,012
-		 3,236,691
138,755
6,051,246 1,337,399 (2,722,051) 104,980 4,771,574
10,219,565 2,092,866 (4,543,261) - 7,769,170

17b Analysis of group net assets between funds (prior year)

General
unrestricted Designated Endowment Restricted
funds funds funds funds Total funds
£ £ £ £ £
Tangible fixed assets - 88,169 - - 88,169
Fixed asset investments 5,589,154 - - - 5,589,154
Net current assets (1,202,648) 1,576,571 1,033,865 3,134,454 4,542,242
Net assets at the end of the year 4,386,506 1,664,740 1,033,865 3,134,454 10,219,565

46

47

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Conservation Education & Research Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020 18 Movements in funds (continued)

18b Movements in funds (prior year)

Purposes of restricted funds

Total endowment funds
Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
Non-charitable trading funds
Total funds
Designated funds:
Capital fund
Other
Total unrestricted funds
HSBC Climate Partnership
MICS
HSBC WA / STP
HSBC SLP Programme
Other funds
EU Citizen
Unrestricted funds:
Jersey
Endowment funds:
Jersey
40th anniversary fellowship
Restricted funds:
Neville Shulman Earthwatch Award
EU - MONOCLE		 At 1 October
2018
£
88,039
1,029,047		 Income & gains
£
-
9,651		 Expenditure &
losses
£
(10,052)
(4,833)		 Transfers
£
(77,987)
-		 At 1 October
2019
£
-
1,033,865
1,117,086 9,651 (14,885) (77,987) 1,033,865
94,941
93,326
-
1,802,568
-
1,619,786
271,982
-
-		 -
-
-
10,144
372,056
1,478,030
581,836
1,825
97,795		 (25,400)
(60,162)
-
(594,453)
(83,697)
(1,825,212)
(565,999)
(1,825)
(15,267)		 (2,822)
-
77,987
-
(20,821)
(120,823)
(51,341)
-
-		 66,719
33,164
77,987
1,218,259
267,538
1,151,781
236,478
-
82,528
3,882,603 2,541,686 (3,172,015) (117,820) 3,134,454
139,484
1,413,423		 -
1,679,983		 (58,867)
(1,516,835)		 7,552
-		 88,169
1,576,571
1,552,907 1,679,983 (1,575,702) 7,552 1,664,740
4,409,300
240,873		 433,974
170,205		 (855,906)
(200,195)		 188,255
-		 4,175,623
210,883
6,203,080 2,284,162 (2,631,803) 195,807 6,051,246
11,202,769 4,835,499 (5,818,703) - 10,219,565

Purposes of endowment funds

The 40th Anniversary Fellowship consists of a donation of £1,000,000 from the Oman Government to set up an endowment fund. At 30 September 2019, there is unspent income from the fund of £33,865 which is included in the total. We are currently negotiating with the relevant parties to agree objectives for the Fund going forward.

The HSBC Water Programme is an eight-year programme designed to deliver research and engagement on freshwater sources and the ecosystems they support worldwide. The aim of the programme is education of HSBC staff and the local communities, about critical local and global freshwater challenges. The evolution of this programme led to the development of the Sustainability Training Programme in 2017. The programme focuses on regional scientific research projects, investigating nature-based solutions for climate resilience, building understanding of these issues and how these connect internally to sustainability and the bank’s priorities.

The HSBC Sustainability Leadership Programme is a residential programme for Senior Managers within HSBC designed to deeply engage business leaders in climate change and sustainability issues; leading to decisions and actions which make HSBC a more sustainable business. Participants work with Earthwatch scientists on a climate change-related research project and take part in structured sustainability learning sessions relevant to HSBC - the programme is co-delivered by Earthwatch and HSBC.

It has now been agreed with the States of Jersey that we can spend the endowment. It has been agreed to spend the remainder of the fund over the next five years, with a particular focus on supporting education, teachers and emerging scientists. The first training using this fund will take place in February 2019.

The EU – Monocle, MICS, COS4Cloud and EU Citizen restricted balances are residual balances on a range of EU funded grants that are in progress. All balances are held for utilisation in 2021.

The grant from the Ovo Foundation will see us plant a number of Tiny Forests as well as engaging schoolchildren with the environment using these forests. This is a three year grant which began in July 2019.

The Wild Days project was an initiative to provide on line nature based activities, and was partly funded by donations from Lego, the Tomorro foundation and T & M Rembaum.

The Natural Environment Research Council funded project is research into the Community for Engaging Environments and the Earthwatch Naturehood program

The donation from S C Johnson is for the River Plastics project.

Transfers from restricted funds to general funds are made on the basis of agreed margins where applicable.

Purposes of designated funds

The Capital Fund is the funds of the group/company which are represented by the net book value of tangible and intangible fixed assets.

Other designated funds are monies received in advance for projects that are not restricted but have committed activities in future years. These funds are not for general use.

19 Operating lease commitments

Purposes of restricted funds

The Neville Shulman Earthwatch Award Fund is a donation from the author and environmentalist Neville Shulman CBE, set up to fund Earthwatch fellows from developing countries who are emerging leaders in conservation. Two awards of £4,000 are given each year to fund a project in the fellow’s home country with a view to further enhance their professional skills in conservation. A further four awards of £500 are given each year to fund fellows’ participation in a local workshop and/or conservation conferences.

2018 was the 10th year of Neville’s Awards programme, which was based on an investment of £150,000 in 2008. In 2018 Neville confirmed his wish to continue supporting Earthwatch and agreed to continued support for an additional 10 years at a level of £20,000 per year; Neville has so far made donations which total £66,600. These awards now better represent the Earthwatch focus areas. Selection criteria has been adapted to ensure candidates whose projects meet our new strategy focus and have an impact on local communities and stakeholders are selected.

The group's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods:


periods:
Over five years
One to five years
Less than one year		 2020
2019
£
£
96,000
86,400
384,000
345,600
-
-
480,000
432,000
Property
480,000 432,000

The HSBC Climate Partnership was a five-year international research and engagement programme on climate change, funded by HSBC Holdings plc. Following the completion of the programme in 2012, HSBC agreed that the fund would be retained by Earthwatch to fund future projects or used to increase Earthwatch’s capacity to deliver future programmes. From 2017, Earthwatch began to use these funds to support community engagement activities.

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

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Thank you to our supporters

Partner institutions

Corporate partners and supporters

Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior

HSBC Holdings plc

Australian Citizen

Science Association

Mitsubishi Corporation Royal Bank of Canada

Autorità’ Di Bacino Distrettuale Delle Alpi Orientali

Royal Dutch Shell plc

The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) Brooklyn College

SC Johnson

Tate & Lyle plc

Thames Water

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Trusts and Foundations, governmental and research grants

Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai Chinese University of Hong Kong

The Chapman Charitable Trust Doris Field Charitable Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Edward Hoare Charitable Fund

Citizen Science Association

CNRS- French National Centre for Scientific Research

ESRC (for the DeSCiPHER and RESPiRES projects)

Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible (CCMSS)

Deinvestigaciones Cientificas and all Cos4Cloud partners

European Commission - Horizon 2020

Dublin City University Water Institute

LEGO® Group

Mitsubishi Corporation Fund for Europe and Africa

Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées Environment Agency

Mr and Mrs J A Pye’s Charitable Settlement

National Lottery Heritage Fund

European Citizen Science Association

National Environmental Research Group

GeoEcoMar

OVO Foundation

Geonardo Environmental Technologies Ltd

States of Jersey

IHE Delft and all other Ground Truth 2.0 partners Imperial College London

The Tomoro Foundation

UKRI (for the EDGE project)

William Dean Countryside and Educational Trust

Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru

Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)

Institute of Science and Technology at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad

IVN Natuureducatie

Khalifa Univerisity of Science and Technology (formerly the Masdar Institute)

KWR Watercycle Research Insititute

London East Teacher Training Alliance (LETTA)

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and all other EUCitizen.Science partners

Nanjing Agricultural University

Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Plymouth Marine Laboratory and all other MONOCLE partners

The River Restoration Centre

Rivers Trusts and all other organisations participating in FreshWater Watch

Seychelles National Park Authority

Small Woods

Sustainable Soils Alliance

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

University of Arizona

University of East London University of Luxembourg

University of Oxford University of Reading

University of Reading and all other NC4EE partners

University of Sheffield –

Institute for Sustainable Food

Wild Oxfordshire

Wilson Center

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Witney Town Council WWF China WWF Romania

Expedition research scientists

Dr LeeAnn Fishback

Dr Russell Hill

Dr Abraham Miller-Rushing Professor D. Smith

Science & policy advisors

Dr Helen Bostock Dr Anne Bowser Dr Stijn Brouwer Brendan Costello

Professor Kevin Gaston

Dr Daniel Hayhow

Professor Philip James

Dr Mike Moorcroft

Jessie Oliver

Dr Michael Pocock

Iulia Puiu

Dr Anett Richter

Dr Andrew Salisbury

Professor Dawn Scott

Professor William Sutherland Professor René van der Wal Dr Doug Wilson

Dr Claire Wordley

Community supporters

Florence Park Community Centre

Flo’s in the Park

Marston Community Gardening Group

Supporters

Maggie Brookes (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Gale Burns (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Rima Chai

Claire Collison (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Credit Suisse

Caroline Davies (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Sarah Doyle (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Philip Gross (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Janet Harper (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Jan Heritage (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Bernie Howley (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Sue Johns (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Janet Lees (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Lucky Generals

George and Judith Masons

David and Gill Mathers

Fiona Moore (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Ian McLachlan (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Michael and Tanya Rembaum

Andrea Robinson (Poets for the Planet fundraiser)

Peter Saffrey

Neville Shulman CBE

Ruth Wiggins (Poets for the Planet fundraiser) Nigel and Shane Winser

Contributors and ambassadors

Joanna Bagnieswska

Nick Baker Beach Guardians Beaver Trust Lynne Boddy Natalie Fee Dave Goulson Bella Lack David Lindo Kate MacRae ORCA Sophie Pavelle Paul Rose

Project Seagrass Mya-Rose Craig Michaela Strachan The Wessex Rivers Trust Alex White

Trustees

Iain Coucher

Dorothee D’Herde

Ed Green

Lucian J. Hudson – Chair

Lisa King

Superna Khosla – Treasurer Geoff Lane – Vice-Chair

Dax Lovegrove

Dr Jack Matthews

Judith Mosely (retired October 2019)

Adam Powell

Volunteers

Paul Baker

Tony Strong

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51

Earthwatch Europe Mayfield House, 256 Banbury Road Oxford, OX2 7DE, United Kingdom +44 (0) 1865 318 838 hello@earthwatch.org.uk www.earthwatch.org.uk Earthwatch Institute (Europe) is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1094467.

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