The French have introduced a new lottery!

Called the ‘Loto de la biodiversité’, its aim is to raise funds for the preservation and restoration of French wildlife.

It’s a scratch card game and it offers players the chance to win up to €30,000 for €3 a card. There are up to 15 million scratch cards available

About 0.43 euros per card sold will be directed to the Office Français de la Biodiversité

The French Biodiversity Agency is dedicated to the protection and restoration of biodiversity, both in France and its overseas territories.

The lottery will debut on 23 October and it will be available at tobacconists in France.

France already has a Heritage lottery which has funded restoration projects for over 745 heritage sites in France since it started back in 2018. So the French government are hoping that this new biodiversity lottery will be as successful! The hope is that it will generate €6.5m in revenue soon after the launch.

The Office Français de la Biodiversité is going to be distributing the funds out to nature conservation projects, and so far over 60 charities have applied for grants. A committee will decide on who gets awards, and these will range from €50,000 euros to €1 million.

One of the aims behind this new lottery is to make people aware of the challenges in protecting and restoring natural habitats, and to make biodiversity more accessible.

Good luck to everyone buying a ticket! Perhaps more countries can follow suit?

A French jackpot lottery winner created a fund to protect the environment. (April 2022)