Since 1989 the Dutch Postcode Lottery has been raising funds to support organisations working for a fairer, greener world. The Lottery has grown to become the Netherlands biggest charity lottery and currently supports 75 charitable organisations including, since 2008, the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance. Fifty percent of its income is given to charitable organisations such as our own. Since its founding the Lottery has dispensed more than 2.9 billion euros to its beneficiaries.
Thanks to the Lottery’s 2.5 million participants, over Euro 256 million was distributed in 2009 alone. With this money, Lottery beneficiaries work to create a better world, for example, by making it possible for Sudanese refuges to return to their homes safely, by providing medical care for the needy and giving young people in Afghanistan their own TV news programme. It also allows the barn owl to fly freely in the Netherlands and for us to safeguard the unique biodiversity and promote the sustainable management of the nature on our islands.
Thanks to the Lottery we are better able to maintain our parks, provide outreach and education to visitors and islanders, conduct research and monitoring programmes and ensure that our parks are indeed truly protected havens for the rich and fragile nature of our islands.