Blue Action Fund Call for Proposals: Supporting Conservation Projects in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

Deadline: 3 August 2017

Blue Action Fund is currently seeking proposals to finance individual grants to selected marine/coastal conservation projects of NGOs in marine protected areas (MPAs) and their buffer zones, focusing on the most sensitive coastal waters of Africa, Latin America and Asia/Pacific.

Its goal is to contribute to reducing the dramatic loss of marine biodiversity and to advancing local development, e.g. through stabilizing incomes in coastal communities or enhancing coastal protection.

Thematic Areas

Blue Action will address four thematic areas:

Contribute to the establishment and development of sustainably managed marine protected areas (MPAs) and sustainable use zones;
Support coastal livelihoods that depend on marine resources through sustainable investments in value additive marine biodiversity utilisation;
Contribute to evidence based knowledge exchange on MPA development, community engagement, monitoring and surveillance at all levels;
Development of instruments, knowledge and cooperation to promote sustainable financing of marine protection from private, public and non-governmental sources.

Project Requirements

The Blue Action Fund seeks projects which:

Contribute to fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 14 and Aichi Target 11;
Are located in the marine waters of overseas development aid (ODA) countries and support areas with significant marine biodiversity and potential for poverty reduction;
Take an integrated, multi-pronged approach (i.e., contribute to marine protection as well as poverty reduction, sustainable & equitable use, community-based protection, etc.);
Are scalable and if successful could be not only sustainable but transformative;
yet at the same time have the potential to show early impacts and results;
Look beyond protecting a single MPA and consider MPA systems and/or promote regional approaches.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants are international or regional NGOs with proven experience in coastal and marine conservation, who have the capacity to plan, execute and monitor projects of the above-mentioned size.
Blue Action welcomes the applications of consortia of NGOs led by international and/or regional NGOs that include national NGOs or other local implementing partners.
Consortia applications should demonstrate clearly the task sharing and the synergies between the applicants.

How to Apply

Interested organizations should send a concept note electronically in Word or PDF format via email with the subject line “[your organization] Project Concept Note”.

Eligible Countries

Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and United States Virgin Islands
Pacific: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS): Bahrain, Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Singapore

For more information, please visit Blue Action Fund.