Deadline: 2-Jul-25
Applications are now open for the Cascade Funding Call for Small Forest Owners’ Organisations.
Objectives
- This second SMURF open call for grants aims to ensure the participation of key stakeholders in the project’s development. It is designed to engage small forest owners through the organisations that represent them (associations, federations, confederations, cooperatives, etc.). The grants seek to involve at least 40 organisations across Europe, expanding the number of entities participating in SMURF activities, with collaborators from forest owners’ associations and cooperatives across all 27 member states.
- The specific objectives and outcomes for this Second Call are:
- Incorporate new members to the SMURF project, and more specifically, to engage at least 40 organizations from at least 20 EU countries.
- Actively contribute to developing and disseminating new business models and innovative opportunities for Small Forest Holdings, empowering small-scale forest owners to unlock new economic prospects and fostering a balanced, future oriented forest economy through pilot projects that explore and evaluate sustainable, market-relevant solutions.
- Increase awareness, sharing knowledge, and enhancing the capacity of stakeholders to adopt close-to-nature forestry practices through the implementation of close-to-nature demonstration stands and the participation in training
Funding Information
- Total funding: €825.000
- Funding per grant: Maximum of 60,000 €/organization (up to €55,000 for recipients of the first call).
Duration
- The timeline of the activity will be from 1 December 2025 to 31 July 2027 (20 Months).
Eligible Activities
- Types of activities:
- Implementation of pilot projects on innovative business opportunities (up to 10 grants)
- Development of Close to Nature Silviculture (CNS) demo stands (up to 10 grants)
- Participation in training sessions focused on CNS practices
- Implementation of new Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) pilot carbon projects (up to 5 grants)
- Participation in National and Regional Working Groups
- Attendance at the Final SMURF project conferences
- Playing a key role in the joint communication and dissemination activities of the SMURF project
Eligibility Criteria
- Target applicants: Associations, federations, confederations or cooperatives of small forest owners
- Applicant is a legal entity based in an EU27 country is eligible.
- This call is not open for applications from natural persons. The legal entity must have a VAT number or fiscal identification code and an active European bank account.
- As the cascade funding program is designed to benefit one organisation per application, consortia of applications between organisations will not be eligible.
For more information, visit SMURF Project.