Deadline: 13-Oct-23
Do you represent a community or organisation looking to make a positive change? Community Foundation Ireland is inviting community groups to apply for a grant to engage an ecologist and develop a Community Biodiversity Action Plan (CBAP) for their local area.
With the support of the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, this fund has been devised to enhance biodiversity in communities throughout the country by combining the expertise of qualified ecologists with the skills, experience, and enthusiasm of local community groups.
A CBAP is a classification of an area’s local habitats, an assessment of their condition, an ecological mapping of the area, and a list of actions and recommendations that can be done to enhance local biodiversity.
Types of Strands
- Developing a Community Biodiversity Action Plan
- Implementing CBAP Recommendations
Priorities
- Developing a Community Biodiversity Action Plan
- They anticipate that this will be a very competitive grant round so proposals that show the unique value of their project will be prioritised, this includes the following:
- Projects that focus heavily on engaging the wider community and demonstrate an intention and capacity to work closely with local landowners, managers, and particularly farmers.
- Projects which consider biodiversity within towns and villages themselves, alongside their green areas, rivers, farms, and parks. This includes streets, laneways, and buildings where protection and enhancement of biodiversity Is often neglected.
- Proposals which aim to raise biodiversity awareness within communities is important-through events, murals, biodiversity walks, street art, etc.
- Applications which include a map of their area will be prioritised. This map can be a screenshot from Google Maps, or any other document/picture which shows the area being targeted. Attaching a map is not essential, but applications including one will be prioritized.
- They anticipate that this will be a very competitive grant round so proposals that show the unique value of their project will be prioritised, this includes the following:
- Implementing CBAP Recommendations
- They anticipate that this will be a very competitive grant round so proposals that show the unique value of their project will be prioritised, this includes the following:
- Projects that make the greatest impact on restoring the biodiversity of the plan area.
- Projects that demonstrate working with and educating the wider community.
- Biodiversity Action Plans are an important way for local communities to get Involved in learning about the wildlife in their local area and getting best practice advice on how to improve biodiversity.
- They anticipate that this will be a very competitive grant round so proposals that show the unique value of their project will be prioritised, this includes the following:
Funding Information
- Developing a Community Biodiversity Action Plan
- Three levels of grant funding will be offered:
- Strand 1: Grants of up to €5,500 for community groups to work with an ecologist to classify their local habitats, assess their condition and extent, map them, and define a suite of actions to enhance biodiversity.
- Strand 2: Grants of up to €8,000 for community groups who carry out the work outlined in Strand 1 in collaboration with one or two land managers/owners and particularly farmers, to classify habitats at landscape scale with a focus on field boundaries (hedgerows, treelines and stone walls), assess their condition and extent, map them and define a suite of actions to enhance biodiversity.
- Strand 3: Grants of up to €11,000 for community groups who carry out the work outlined in Strand 1 in collaboration with three to five land managers/owners and particularly farmers, to classify habitats at landscape scale with a focus on field boundaries (hedgerows, treelines, and stone walls), assess their condition and extent, map them and define a suite of actions to enhance biodiversity.
- You must have received permission from all landowners involved before you apply.
- Ecologists have agreed to a daily rate for their work of €500 exclusive of VAT, travel and subsistence.
- Groups may work with an ecologist whose name does not appear in the Resource Pack, provided they are suitably qualified and agree to the terms set out in the study criteria. Community Foundation Ireland must be notified in advance if this is the case.
- Three levels of grant funding will be offered:
- Implementing CBAP Recommendations
- This year, any organisation with a Community Biodiversity Action Plan is invited to apply for grants of between €2,000 and €6,000 to implement recommendations emerging from their CBAP.
- These grants will only be available to those groups who have submitted their full Community Biodiversity Action Plans and their full data set to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
- Please ensure you have all permissions approved before applying. This may be from landowners, local councils, farmers, etc.
- Budgets can include the cost of a consultant ecologist.
- The total cost for the project can be larger than the amount applied for, but Community Foundation Ireland will only fund the amount available through the Strand. Where there are funding gaps, the organisation should note how the additional funds have/will be raised.
Outcomes
- Developing a Community Biodiversity Action Plan
- Please work closely with the ecologist and follow their suggestions. Due to the nature of the work there may be delays, or a geographical feature may call for the ecologist to bring in another specialist. This can limit the size of the planned area but may be more beneficial to local biodiversity.
- Ecologists have agreed to a daily rate for their work of €500 exclusive of VAT, travel and subsistence.
- It is expected that studies will be carried out by qualified ecologists between January 2024 and Spring 2025, with final CBAPs to be submitted by your group to Community Foundation Ireland by June 2025 and ensuring the ecologist has submitted their data to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
- Please work closely with the ecologist and follow their suggestions. Due to the nature of the work there may be delays, or a geographical feature may call for the ecologist to bring in another specialist. This can limit the size of the planned area but may be more beneficial to local biodiversity.
- Implementing CBAP Recommendations
- The ultimate aim of the funding scheme is that successful community groups will implement recommendations from their Community Biodiversity Action Plans. This will demonstrate the impact that the plans can have in preserving and restoring local biodiversity.
Eligible Projects
- Must be to carry out a Community Biodiversity Action Plan.
- Must liaise with Landowners/Farmers/Local Authorities.
- Will Include clear, detailed, realistic costs and timescales.
- Developing a Community Biodiversity Action Plan: Must be done with a qualified Ecologist.
Ineligible Projects
- Ongoing core costs such as insurance, rent, bills etc.
- General biodiversity projects.
- Religious or Political activities.
- Projects that have already happened or any activities that will happen before the grants are awarded.
- Projects that do not have permission from all landowners involved.
- Projects taking place outside of the Republic of Ireland
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Organisations:
- Can be a registered charity or a local community/voluntary group.
- Must have an annual income of less than €2,000,000.
- Have up to date and sufficient governing documents, annual accounts and child safeguarding policies.
Ineligible
- Charitable organisations or community/voluntary groups with an annual income of more than €2,000,000
- Statutory bodies
- For-profit companies
- Organisations outside the Republic of Ireland
- Individual people who are not part of a constituted organisation
For more information, visit Community Foundation Ireland.