Call for Proposals: Ramsar Small Grants Fund for Wetland Conservation and Wise Use (SGF)

Deadline: 6 May 2019

The Small Grants Fund was established by the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention at its 4th meeting (COP4, 1990), with the name “Wetland Conservation Fund”, as a mechanism to assist developing countries in implementing the Convention and to enable the conservation and wise use of wetland resources.

As its name indicates, the SGF is intended for small-scale projects and does not replace the need for most developing countries and countries in transition to have access to much more substantial levels of funding in order to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of their wetland resources. The SGF offers a maximum of CHF35,000 per project and is intended to play a catalytic role.

Funding Information

The SGF is administered by the Ramsar Secretariat under the supervision of the Standing Committee, pursuant to the Terms of Reference for the Financial Administration of the Convention. Resolution XIII.2 instructed the Secretariat to phase out the Small Grants Fund Programme upon exhaustion of currently available resources. The total amount available for projects funded under this call for proposals is CHF 134,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• According to the criteria established by Resolution VI.6 for SGF eligibility, all countries and overseas territories on the List of Aid Recipients established by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) for the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), shall be eligible for receiving assistance from the SGF.
• Countries that are not signatories to the Convention are also able to apply to the Fund, but only for so-called ‘preparatory assistance’ to allow them to progress toward adhesion to the Convention, and not for the other types of assistance.

Types of Assistance

The SGF is open to eligible Contracting Parties and those overseas territories included in the DAC List for:

• activities that clearly contribute to the implementation of the Convention’s Strategic Plan 2016-2024. Preference will be given to projects that are aimed at implementing particular priority aspects of the planning done by the Contracting Party, on the basis of the Strategic Plan, for the implementation of the Convention in the triennium 2019-2021; and
• emergency assistance related to maintaining the ecological character of designated Ramsar sites; and to eligible non-Contracting Parties for:
• ‘preparatory assistance’, to allow non-Contracting Parties to progress toward accession to the Convention.

How to Apply

Applicants should complete the “Request for Funding” form available on the given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.ramsar.org/news/small-grants-fund-call-for-proposals