CFPs: Prince Bernhard Nature Fund (PBNF) Grants Program

Eligibility Criteria

To check your eligibility, please take note of the following main criteria:

• The PBNF does not support individuals, only registered non-profits. These can be associations, operating foundations, research institutes, local authorities, universities and others. Your non-profit must have an organisational bank account, no personal accounts are allowed.
• The PBNF aims to help save critically endangered flora and fauna. The urgency of your conservation case is directly related to the priority your project will receive. Therefore, always verify the conservation status of your focus species on the IUCN Red List. As a general rule of thumb, it can be said that you are eligible with a focus species that is at least classified as Vulnerable (VU), and receive a higher priority when the species is classified as Endangered (EN) or Critically Endangered (CR). If the focus species is Near Threatened (NT) or Least Concern (LC) you should not apply, or in case of doubt send an inquiry before applying.
• Due to the small grant size, the PBNF prefers to support projects in developing countries, with a special focus on the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific/Oceania. If you are from a developed country you may still apply, but you will receive a lower priority and therefore have a lower chance for your project to be acknowledged.
• The PBNF always wants to see an applied component of the project. If your project is primarily research-based, it is important to highlight how your research engages communities and will lead to impact on the ground.
• The PBNF focuses on seed funding, supporting organizations in the start-up phase or pilot projects of organizations. The Fund does not favour requests aimed at supporting general ongoing costs of the organization, nor provides co-funding to large projects where the Fund’s support represents a small percentage of the overall project budget.
• The PBNF favours smaller grassroots organisations over bigger international organisations.
• Other criteria include: Stakeholder involvement and local embedding of the project; An innovative approach; (Economic) sustainability of the project; Local capacity building; Scalability of the project. Having some co-funding secured is appreciated but not a must.
•  The PBNF does not support projects that address too general or global threats such as climate change, deforestation, malnutrition, poverty etc. Also general development programs that for example aim to improve the quality of life in rural villages through economic or agricultural development are not eligible.
• Only one application per organisation will be taken into consideration for each call for proposals. If an organisation previously received a PBNF grant, a final report must have been submitted to be eligible to newly apply for a PBNF grant. Organizations can be supported for a maximum of three times.