Deadline: 23 March 2020
The New England Biolabs Foundation is seeking Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) from community-based nonprofit organizations.
The New England Biolabs Foundation is a private foundation whose mission is to foster community-based conservation of landscapes and seascapes and the biocultural diversity found in these places.
The Foundation supports grassroots organizations and other NGOs in selected countries of Central America, Andean South America, and West Africa. In addition, in support of their local roots, they also provide grants for community-based conservation and cultural projects in coastal communities on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Thematic Areas
The Foundation supports communities in the stewardship of their landscapes and seascapes and the associated bio-cultural diversity, ecosystem services, and food-ways. They welcome inquiries from community-based nonprofit organizations working toward:
- Conserving biological diversity (terrestrial and marine).
- Sustaining cultural diversity (linguistic diversity, as well as traditional knowledge systems and practices).
- Maintaining ecosystem services (water, soil, and carbon sequestration).
- Supporting food sovereignty and economic vitality of local communities.
- In the marine environment, sustaining healthy reefs and fisheries.
In addition, in coastal communities along the North Shore of Massachusetts, the Foundation supports projects in the area of artistic expression, with an emphasis on those focusing on the environment and social change.
Funding Information
The maximum international grant size is now $12,000, with past grants ranging from $3,000 to $9,000. The maximum size for local grants is now $8,000, with past grants ranging from $2,500 to $5,000.
Geographic Focus
The Foundation is actively funding projects in the following regions and target landscapes:
Central America
- In Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras:
- Coastal landscapes/seascapes within the Gulf of Honduras and the Bay Islands.
- In Nicaragua:
- Southern Pacific coast of Nicaragua, including Lake Nicaragua.
- Northern Caribbean coast within Nicaragua’s North Atlantic Autonomous Region.
Andean South America
- Sacred Valley of the Incas, extending from Ollantaytambo to Pisac in the Southern Andes of Peru.
- In Bolivia, that portion of the Altiplano extending from Lake Titicaca to Lake Poopó, and beyond to Sucre.
- Andes-Amazon Basin of Ecuador and Peru (with specific landscapes within that region to be identified in 2019).
West Africa
- In Ghana:
- Weto Landscape/Togo Plateau in the southern part of the Togo-Atakora Mountains in Ghana.
- Black Volta Basin in the Upper West region of Ghana.
- In Cameroon:
- Highland landscapes of Southwest Cameroon.
U.S. Grants
- While the foundation’s emphasis is on working internationally, they do fund a limited number of local projects in coastal communities along the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Approaches
The Foundation supports community-based projects that seek to meet their objectives in a variety of ways. Among the kinds of approaches they support are those concerned with:
- Creating and/or ensuring effective management and governance of protected areas, including Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), in particular where governance is led by communities (e.g., Indigenous Peoples’ and Community-Conserved Areas and Territories [ICCAs]).
- Ecological restoration involving native species. Priority will be given to those efforts linked to existing conservation areas already valued by communities (for example, a project to re-establish a forested buffer zone near a sacred grove).
- Providing enhanced and alternative local livelihoods, including sustainable agriculture and value-added products to support local economies.
- Environmental education that draws on indigenous and local traditions and language to address present-day problems.
- Use of the arts and other innovative methods to convey social and environmental messages.
- Fostering civic engagement of communities through creative facilitation and other methods of stakeholder involvement (such as, public meetings and community-mapping exercises).
How to Apply
To submit an LOI, please log on and apply using the Log On button available on the given website.
For more information, visit http://www.nebf.org/how-to-apply/application-deadlines/