Deadline: 17-Apr-23
The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) is now accepting applications for the Habitat Acquisition Grant.
HCTF accepts grant applications from land trust organizations looking to purchase properties to protect important habitat for BC’s fish and wildlife. Proposed acquisitions are evaluated on criteria such as species richness, connectivity, conservation planning priority, habitats, and impending threats to these values. Financial factors such as partnership funding, stability of the proponent organization, cost per hectare and level of community support are also carefully considered. Because acquisitions are funded with licence surcharge money, properties that also include public fishing and hunting opportunities are generally given priority consideration.
For 2023, HCTF will continue to prioritize acquisition applications that seek to increase conservation outcomes for fish, wildlife, and their habitats, provide access for a variety of uses such as hunting, fishing, and non-motorized recreation and fit one or more of the following criteria:
- Contribute to the conservation of wetland or grassland habitats.
- Increase connectivity to adjacent protected lands or important habitats to further build complexes of intact habitat.
- Contribute to the conservation of habitats near urban settings to increase opportunities to connect people to nature.
- Demonstrate resiliency to climate change and/or address stressors linked to climate change impacts.
Funding Information
- The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation provides approximately $500,000 in Habitat Acquisition grants to help fund acquisition projects that secure and manage conservation properties in British Columbia. One such project is Project Perseverance a 90.5-hectare (224 acre) watershed and habitat protection project near the Village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island.
Eligibility Criteria
- Habitat Acquisition Grants provide funds to secure land for the long-term conservation of fish and wildlife habitat in BC. Properties must be located within British Columbia.
- Organization Eligibility
- HCTF accepts Habitat Acquisition Grant proposals from many types of organizations including municipal, regional, and provincial governments, First Nations, land trusts and community organizations.
- HCTF prefers to receive proposals directly from the organization that will hold title and manage the property, but they recognize that sometimes multiple organizations are involved at different stages of an acquisition project—for example, a local community group might coordinate the acquisition of a property, but a larger land trust will ultimately hold title. If the organization submitting the proposal will not be the one holding title or managing the property, be sure to include information on both the applicant organization and the intended title holder and/or manager. Please note that if the applicant is not going to be managing the land, the applicant may still apply for land management/endowment funding; however, HCTF may grant the management funds directly to the organization incurring costs to manage the land.
- HCTF will not fund property acquisitions where the proponent organization is already the owner of the property and is looking to finance debt recovery or pay off the mortgage.
For more information, visit Habitat Acquisition Grant.