The Lewis Foundation has once again demonstrated its strong commitment to the conservation of Marion Island by donating R1 million to the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project.

In 2018 the Lewis Foundation provided early seed-funding of R300 000 to the MFM Project, enabling critical preparatory work to begin.  Since then, the Foundation has remained deeply interested, enthusiastic and supportive of the initiative.  In December last year, MFM Project Manager Dr Anton Wolfaardt made an in-person presentation in Johannesburg, Gauteng to the Foundation, updating the trustees on progress with the project.

We have now received the exciting news from Dr Peter Zacharias, Chair of the Lewis Foundation Board of Trustees, that it will make a further ex gratia donation of R1 million.  This generous contribution helps support the project to continue its planning, research and operational design preparatory stages, which started in 2021 and are now well underway.

Anton writes: “The scale, complexity, and challenging environmental conditions of Marion Island mean that a carefully planned operation is critical.  Any gaps in preparation would compromise the success of the eradication and, ultimately, the conservation outcomes.  The latest support from the Lewis Foundation will help ensure there are no such gaps as we move closer to the eradication of the island’s albatross-killing mice, currently planned for 2029.  I am deeply grateful to the Lewis Foundation for its continued confidence in the MFM Project and for its sustained generosity over many years.  This support has been both practically and morally significant for the team, and we thank the Foundation sincerely for standing with us on this important conservation journey.”

The Lewis Foundation is a private, independent philanthropic foundation based in South Africa that provides catalytic support to strategic nature-based initiatives, leveraged through collaboration and partnerships – focusing on Conservation and Animal Welfare within a formal strategic framework.  It was established by the late Lisette and Tony Lewis in 1994.  As well as the MFM Project, the foundation is also an active supporter of other projects and initiatives of BirdLife South Africa.

John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 17 February 2026

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A Wandering Albatross on its mud nest close to the weather station on Marion Island soon after annexation in early 1948. Photograph by M1 Team Leader, Martin Crawford, courtesy of his son, Martin Crawford and the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa

The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean.  The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.  Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate.  For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.