CAMPAIGNERS hoping to install a statue of a Monmouthshire great at a world-famous landmark have secured an two extra weeks in their hunt for £30,000.

For a life-sized bronze statue of Alfred Russel Wallace at the Natural History Museum in London, £50,000 is required by mid-February, or it could be scaled down to a small bust.

So far, there is £20,000 in the bank for the Wallace Memorial Fund, launched by Dr George Beccaloni in 1999. The fund’s patron is the comedian and naturalist Bill Bailey.

The funding deadline was originally January 31, to give the artist enough time to then make the sculpture of the Monmouthshire born man – one of the greatest scientists of his generation. But an extra two weeks has since been agreed.

The statue is planned to mark 100 years since Wallace’s death.

It would be on showto around 4.5million visitors every year, alongside some of his specimens from South East Asia, where he collected 126,000 insects and birds.

Wallace, born in Kensington House, Llanbadoc, near Usk, in 1823, co-published a paper on evolution theory with Charles Darwin in 1858.

Dr Beccaloni said it was vital the Monmouthshire scientist was properly recognised against his contemporaries.

“We want to raise the profile of Wallace. Natural selection is the greatest idea to a human’s mind and Darwin’s got all the credit.

“It’s the 100th anniversary of Wallace’s death, so if we can’t get a statue this year, it’s never going to happen,” the museum’s insects curator added.

Last week marked the launch of the Wallace Correspondence Project, an online archive of his letters, including some from the early days in Wales.

A monument near Wallace’s childhood Monmouthshire home was paid for by the memorial fund.

Last week, the campaign was brought to the attention of Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones by Mid and West Wales AM Joyce Watson in the Senedd.

To donate, go to http://wal lacefund.info/statue