Support our special projects

Support our ongoing expeditions to discover new species.

Every year our scientists undertake expeditions all over the globe to learn more about our complex natural world. These expeditions are expensive and we can only undertake a limited number each year. More funding in this area will help us gain precious knowledge at a much faster rate and to make a real difference to the future of the natural world.

Make a donation now

How you can help

We want to raise an additional £100,000 to fund more expeditions of natural discovery.

You can make a donation to our expeditions by:

• Donating online
• Sending a cheque *
• Texting EXPLORE to 84459 to donate £3. When you text, you will automatically be entered in our weekly free prize draw to win tickets to one of our special exhibitions. If you wish to enter the prize draw without making a donation, please send your name and address to: Annual Fund Free Prize Draw, Development Office, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD.
• Become a Patron and support our expeditions.

* Please send cheques made payable to the Natural History Museum to Expedition of Discovery Appeal, Development Office, The Natural History Museum, Freepost LON17266, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5YZ.

Our recent Columbian expedition

Blanca Huertas, curator of butterflies at the Museum shares her experiences in Columbia:

"My expedition to the remote Yariguies mountains in Columbia was crucially important. Our initial survey of the area revealed the Serrania de los Yariguies mountain range to be of great global conservation importance. It was given a critical rating because of the significance of the species found there. We knew that on the isolated Andes mountain peak we had to explore, we would have no communication with the outside world, so the logistics had to be carefully planned. 

"Our days on the mountain began at 5am for studying birds. Insect observation went far into the night. Our ornothologists captured an extraordinary array of birdlife using mist netting. We collected, observed and photographed countless butterflies and beetles. We knew we'd made some extraordinary finds. The expedition yielded several species and sub-species completely new to science. Among them were the beautiful Yariguíes brush finch (Atlapetes latinuchus yariguierum) and a the new species of Yariguies ringlet butterfly (Idioneurula donegani)."

Other expeditions

Salmanders
Find out about our exciting discovery of new salamanders in Costa Rica.

Marine worms
A new species of bone-eating marine worm Oseadax mucofloris was discovered in 2005 in the shallow water environment of the North Sea. Read about our North Sea marine worm discoveries.

Tomatoes
Learn about the implications of finding two new species of tomato from Peru.