Natural History Museum announces fundraising plans
The Natural History Museum announces its fundraiser plans that hope to raise £150 million by 2031, when it will celebrate its 150th anniversary.
“Since 2017 when we unveiled Hope the blue whale diving through the heart of the Museum, a symbol of humanity’s power to act for the planet, we’ve been working hard to help people understand the importance of looking after the natural world,” Museum Director Dr Doug Gurr said. “In 2020 we declared a planetary emergency and our mission to create advocates for the planet. This step-change from a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change will be fully realised as our galleries here in South Kensington are renewed and revitalised, powered by our scientists’ work to find solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face.”
To mark its 150th anniversary, the Natural History Museum announced that it will restore and renew four existing galleries, including the “world-famous” Dinosaur gallery, and open a brand-new space dedicated to connecting the “youngest visitors to the natural world.” Before then, opening in 2025 is Fixing Our Broken Planet, a new free gallery addressing environmental challenges and showcasing what visitors can do to protect the planet.
Plans are also underway to reopen the Origins gallery and the Old General Herbarium, which have been closed to the public since 2004 and 1948 respectively. Currently used to house collections, these spaces will be restored “to their former glory,” complete with iconic Victorian architecture, and return them to public use so they can engage and inspire once more, creating advocates for the planet for generations to come.
More than a third of the natural history collection is moving to a state of the art, science, research and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park so we can take better care of it and more easily share its data with scientists all over the world who are finding solutions to problems like climate change, biodiversity loss and food security.
“By moving the collection out of unsuitable, unsustainable storage in South Kensington and into a purpose-built research centre,” the museum said in a press release, “we are preserving this powerful scientific tool for next 150 years, while increasing access and collaboration with the science community, and returning gallery space back to its intended use.”
