GBIF seeking Concept Notes for Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) Programme

Deadline: 5 January 2020

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan is currently accepting concept notes for the fifth phase of its Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) programme to enhance knowledge of Asian biodiversity through access to data from biological collections and monitoring programmes in the region.

This call for proposals aims to address key challenges that GBIF nodes in Asia have identified in connection with the mobilization and use of biodiversity data in the region.

Types of Grants

Two types of grants are included in the call:

• BIFA collections data mobilization grants will target Asia’s natural history collections, to fill taxonomic and geographic gaps in freely-accessible data relating to Asian biodiversity.
  • Purpose: Projects funded by a BIFA collections data mobilization grant will target Asia’s natural history collections. They should address the priority challenge for GBIF in Asia of filling taxonomic and geographical gaps in the availability of accessible data on the occurrence of species in the region. The following activities are envisaged under this type of grant:
    • Digitizing and publishing georeferenced species occurrence data based on specimens held in Asian collections
    • Organizing workshops(s) aiming to enhance national or regional capacity within biodiversity data mobilization
    • Preparing data papers to improve the reusability of the mobilized biodiversity data
• BIFA ecological monitoring data mobilization grants will target Asian biodiversity monitoring programmes and networks.
  • Purpose: Projects funded by a BIFA ecological monitoring data mobilization grant will target the various institutions, projects and networks in Asia engaged in surveys and inventories of biodiversity using standardized methodologies and protocols. They should address the priority regional challenge for GBIF in Asia of filling taxonomic and geographical gaps in the availability of accessible data on the occurrence of species in the region, including relative abundance and changes over time. The following activities are envisaged under this type of grant:
    • Mobilizing species occurrence and sampling-event data from observation networks and monitoring systems
    • Preparing data papers to improve the reusability of the mobilized biodiversity data

Funding Information

The total potential funding assigned to this call is approximately €90,000, and applicants may request a maximum of €15,000 through BIFA for each project.

General Eligibility Criteria

All activities funded under the BIFA programme must comply with the following general eligibility criteria:

• Applicants must be in good standing with GBIF (i.e. the lead institution submitting the project proposal has no overdue or missing reports and/or deliverables from previous projects funded under a programme led by GBIF).
• Applicants must be legal entities located in an Asian country eligible for BIFA grant.
• All BIFA funded activities must be not-for-profit.
• Complete concept notes and full proposals in English must be submitted through GBIF Grant Portal by the stated deadlines.
• Field work and/or the collection of new field data, or laboratory research to capture new data are not eligible for funding under the BIFA programme – although such activities may be included in a project plan if funded by alternative sources.
• Applicants must commit cofunding (in-kind or cash) to their projects and provide details of this cofunding in their concept notes and full proposals. Cofunding refers to real costs that are incurred by the applicants while executing the funded project’s activities. These could be in-kind contributions that directly contribute to the project activities (like staff salaries, travel costs etc.) or any in-cash contributions to BIFA activities from other funding sources. The level of this cofunding will be taken into account when evaluating the proposal’s value for money.
• All data mobilized through the BIFA grants, as well as any other products of the projects, such as training material, must be made available under a CC BY license or CC0 waiver.
• All proposed project activities must fall within the stated implementation periods for each grant type.
• Applications involving partners from countries or organizations that already participate in GBIF must include a statement of endorsement from the GBIF Head of Delegation or Node Manager. Contact information for representatives of GBIF Participant countries and organizations can be found on the Participant pages linked from the Participant list.
• No applications for funding a third year of a continuing BIFA project will be considered eligible. Applicants from projects that have already received a second BIFA grant for a follow-up project may, however, submit new proposals that differ substantially from the scope and objectives of the original project and follow-up.

Eligible Countries and Economies

Institutions and legal entities located in the following countries/economies are eligible to apply for grant through this BIFA call:  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea, Republic of, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam.

For more information, visit https://www.gbif.org/news/3FNRgIrMRpBMVQoLMVjdfi/call-for-proposals-promoting-the-mobilization-and-use-of-biodiversity-data-in-asia