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Land Acquisition Fund: Providing Funds to Local NGOs and CSOs

Deadline: 01-May-2025

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is seeking applications for the Land Acquisition Fund to provide funds for local NGOs and CSOs to acquire threatened nature, create safe reserves and connect wildlife habitats for endangered species.

The fund supports land purchase, long-term lease of land and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM). Since its foundation in 2001, LAF has enabled the purchase/lease of over 320,000 hectares. The LAF is supported by a growing number of private donors. This project proposal briefing outlines the practical details and requirements for applications.

Project Areas 
  • High priority will be given to land acquisition (through purchase or lease) or implementation of OECMs to:
    • secure areas hosting species listed as threatened (CR, EN or VU) on the IUCN Red List;
    • Secure areas with a high biodiversity value, like Key Biodiversity Areas;
    • Secure areas that are important in a broad approach for securing the connectivity in a high biodiversity value landscape (corridors, stepping stones) or to secure ecosystem services;
    • Secure ecosystems underrepresented in the public protected areas system;
    • Secure important populations of threatened plants and trees. Such proposals should preferably target protection of range-restricted tree species, an Alliance for Zero Extinction site or a unique part of the range of a species.
Funding Information
  • The maximum financial assistance provided by LAF is 100,000 euro. Co-funding of projects is possible when the impact of the IUCN NL grant is clearly visible and constitutes a substantial part of the overall budget, or when the IUCN NL grant can trigger other donors to contribute. Besides the acquisition of land, the LAF grants can also be used for initial investments to secure the sustainability and conservation impact of the purchase (fencing, signboards, guard’s salary and accommodation, etc). Please note that costs for these investments may take up a maximum of 25 to 30% the requested budget.
Geographical Range
  • Local conservation NGOs, CSOs working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific are eligible for this program and are invited to submit their proposals.
Eligibility Criteria
  • Proposals can be submitted by local NGOs and CSOs with:
    • experience and capacity concerning the effective management of a conservation area, and
    • experience and capacity in the field of project management, financial management and – control
  • LAF cannot grant financial assistance to:
    • Private individuals
    • Commercial (for profit) organisations
    • Governmental institutions
    • Projects /organisations with a primary focus on sustainable agricultural systems, education- , rescue- or rehabilitation centres.

For more information, visit IUCN.