Deadline: 15-Jun-23
The People and Conservation Learning Group is excited to announce the launch of a small grants initiative for 2023, funded by the Arcus Foundation and delivered by IIED to support people and great ape conservation in three great ape range states: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The PCLG small grants initiative seeks to get money to where it matters to support locally-led action. IIED does not define what an eligible activity should include, but rather supports applicants to self-determine their priorities related to opportunities or challenges arising from interactions between people and great ape conservation.
In this round of the small grants initiative, the design and delivery has been heavily influenced by the principles for locally led adaptation (LLA) – a set of eight principles that seek to shift power and decision-making to the local level that are now endorsed by more than 100 governments and organisations.
Principles
- The eight principles are:
- Devolving decision making to the lowest appropriate level
- Addressing structural inequalities faced by women, youth, children, disabled and displaced people, Indigenous Peoples and marginalised ethnic groups
- Providing patient and predictable funding that can be accessed more easily
- Investing in local capabilities to leave an institutional legacy
- Building a robust understanding of climate risk and uncertainty
- Flexible programming and learning
- Ensuring transparency and accountability
- Collaborative action and investment
The PCLG small grants initiative has a particular focus on how these principles can be applied to funding for nature conservation and locally-led action more broadly. This includes consideration for working in multiple languages, different currencies, and using application and reporting methods that work for the local context, such as videos and voice notes.
Funding Information
- The overall grant budget is $60,000 to fund small grants in all three target countries. Applicants are encouraged to apply for small grants of between $2,000 and $7,500, however this could be up to a maximum of $10,000 if the case is well justified. They prioritise support to smaller organisations that may find it more difficult to access funds from other sources.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be considered for funding, the application needs to meet the following criteria:
- Clear benefit from the project for people and great apes
- Activities must take place in Cameroon, DRC or Uganda
- Activities must be led by local or Indigenous organisations, associations or groups, and
- Reasonable and cost-effective budget
- The small grants initiative does not prescribe the type of activities the funding will support, since the funding is designed to support locally led action. Local communities are best placed to define their own priorities.
- The small grants initiative is keen to fund projects which foster collaboration between or within different networks of organisations, groups and individuals. Examples of projects that have been funded previously can be found on the project page.
- Some examples of activities the smalls grants initiative will not support include: sensitisation/education projects; tree planting projects; law enforcement; project evaluations; water and sanitation projects or equipment needs.
For more information, visit PCLG.