Feasibility Awards
Rainforest Trust
Deadline: Rolling
Grant amount: Up to US $20,000
Fields of work: Environmental Conservation
Applicant type: Nonprofit
Funding uses: Research, Project / Program
Location of project: Preferred: Caribbean; Central America; Eastern Africa; Melanesia; Micronesia; Middle Africa; Polynesia; South-Eastern Asia; Western Africa; Algeria; Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh; Bolivia; Botswana; Brazil; Chile; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Ecuador; Egypt; French Guiana; Guyana; Hong Kong; India; Libya; Macao; Maldives; Namibia; Oman; Paraguay; Saudi Arabia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Taiwan, Republic Of China; United Arab Emirates; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Western Sahara; Yemen Other eligible locations: Africa; Caribbean; Central America; Melanesia; Micronesia Show all
Location of residency: Preferred: Caribbean; Central America; Eastern Africa; Melanesia; Micronesia; Middle Africa; Polynesia; South-Eastern Asia; Western Africa; Algeria; Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh; Bolivia; Botswana; Brazil; Chile; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Cook Islands; Ecuador; Egypt; French Guiana; Guyana; Hong Kong; India; Libya; Macao; Maldives; Namibia; Oman; Paraguay; Saudi Arabia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Taiwan, Republic Of China; United Arab Emirates; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Western Sahara; Yemen Other eligible locations: Africa; Australia and New Zealand; Caribbean; Central America; Melanesia Show all
990 Snapshot
Overview:
Rainforest Trust provides Feasibility Awards to assess the potential for creating or expanding protected or conserved areas. These awards are intended to address specific information gaps in conservation projects, as precursors to applying for a Protected or Conserved Area Creation Award. For instance, Feasibility Awards can support developing a legal pathway to protect a proposed site, or field surveys to determine the presence and abundance of Critically Endangered or Endangered species. The average size of Feasibility Awards is $10,000; in exceptional situations, amounts of greater than $20,000 may be considered.
Successful applications should exhibit clear intent to establish a new Protected Area and one or more of the following:
- Assess whether a site qualifies as an A1(a) KBA;
- Evaluate land tenure of unprotected A1(a) KBAs;
- Evaluate the presence and abundance of CR and EN species within unprotected A1(a) KBAs;
- Investigate legal processes for potentially designating the site as a nationally recognized protected area or acquiring the long-term lease of gazetted land, where appropriate;
- Negotiate land prices and gauge willingness to sell privately owned land
- Assessments of community and government interest in Protected Area creation
Required Criteria for All Projects:
- The primary objective must be the creation/expansion of a protected or conserved areai.
- The proposed area(s) must be currently unprotected. Please use the World Database of Protected Areas to help determine if formal protection is already afforded (IUCN category 1-6)ii.
- The proposed protected or conserved area serves to:
- Protect globally significant populations of Critically Endangered and Endangered species (e.g. Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites); AND/ORiii, iv
- Protect large areas of Tropical and Sub-tropical High Integrity Forests; AND/OR
- Protect Tropical and Sub-tropical habitat critical for mitigating global climate change (e.g. peat swamps, mangroves, páramo).
- The Project Implementer must be a legally registered non-government organization and authorized to conduct work in the country of the project.
- The project demonstrates support from relevant governments (including Indigenous governments) and Indigenous Peoples and/or Local Communities, and that relevant Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) has been or will be properly conducted.
- The protection mechanism, resulting in a change in legal status of the area during the course of the project, will mitigate critical threats to biodiversity and, where applicable, to carbon storage.
- A management system (management plan and committee) is, or will be, in place that ensures positive and sustained outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity.
- Resource extraction limits are, or will be, established to prevent unsustainable use.
You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.
Eligibility:
- Your organization must be a local or nationally registered organization and authorized to work within the country of the proposed project
- Project must be based within the tropics or subtropics.
- If the area currently has any form of legal protection, you must be expanding an existing protected area.
- IUCN Red List Critically Endangered or Endangered species must be confirmed or suspected within the project site, or are there other species that would be considered Critically Endangered or Endangered by IUCN but which are not yet assessed.
Preferences:
Ineligibility:
- Overhead costs (e.g. 15% for administration costs or office rent)
- Ecological monitoring or research
- Forest restoration (e.g. tree planting)
- Vehicle purchases other than motorcycles
- International travel
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