Work on the first edition started with funds from Mankind 2000, matching those of the UIA. The publisher Klaus Saur, of Munich, provided funds, in conjunction with those from the UIA, for work on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. Seed funding for the third volume of the 4th edition was also provided on behalf of Mankind 2000. In the nineties, seed funding was provided, again on behalf of Mankind 2000, for computer equipment which subsequently allowed the UIA to develop a large website and make progressively available for free the "Encyclopedia" databases as from the 1994–1995 edition. In turn, this proven knowledge management capacity enabled the UIA, on the initiative of Nadia McLaren, a consultant ecologist who has been a primary editor for the "Encyclopedia", to successfully instigate two multi-partner projects funded by the European Union, with matching funds from the UIA. The work done through those two projects, "Ecolynx: Information Context for Biodiversity Conservation" (mainly) and "Interactive Health Ecology Access Links", eventually resulted in what amounted to a fifth, web-based, edition of the "Encyclopedia" in 2000. In their own ways, two other persons in particular effectively supported the project over the years: Robert Jungk of Mankind 2000, and Christian de Laet of the UIA.