Deadline: 30 September 2019
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has announced its annual request for proposals (RFP) for the SFI Conservation Grants Program.
Grants from SFI contribute to understanding the critical linkage between forests and communities across the range of American and Canadian forests, and represent SFI’s long-standing commitment to forest research. These projects provide the science-based data needed by resource professionals to improve forest management and to assess conservation values.
For SFI Conservation Grants applications in this grant cycle, SFI Inc. is placing a priority on projects which measure, demonstrate, or establish methodologies to demonstrate, the conservation-related values of SFI-certified forestlands, or such values which result from application of the SFI Fiber Sourcing standard. Ideally such projects will be scalable to a regional or bio-regional scale (e.g., Ponderosa Pine forests, Boreal Plains, Longleaf Pine ecosystem, the central hardwood forest, etc.). Particular attention will be paid to applications focused on conservation values in the areas of water, climate change (including both carbon attributes and forest resiliency), and biodiversity. Projects which advance communication of these values through the supply chain, and with relevant stakeholders, are also desirable.
Examples of priority projects which may serve to demonstrate the conservation-related values of SFI certified lands, or SFI Fiber Sourcing activities, may include:
- Studies that calculate ecosystem service values (e.g., carbon sequestration, water filtration and/or quantity control) by adapting established methods to quantify the impact of SFI Program Participant activities.
- Studies that quantify the relationship between diversity of age-classes and structure in well-managed forests, and forest ecosystem water storage, and filtering. A related component could include quantifying the value of reforestation in promoting water quality and regulating flow.
- Studies that quantify the contribution of SFI-certified forests, or SFI Fiber Sourcing, toward the attainment of broadly accepted conservation goals in landscapes of conservation interest.
- Studies that measure or illustrate the unique role of managed forests in contributing to the habitat needs of wide-ranging species, climate change adaptation, contributions to landscape-scale objectives, or other worthy conservation objectives that demonstrate the unique attributes and scale of SFI certified forests.
- Studies that increase understanding of conservation values in managed forests, that build from previously established methodologies, including those resulting from past or current SFI Conservation Grants, especially as they may be applied in new landscapes, and/or in refinement of metrics, or explore cross cutting conservation values (e.g. utilizing established spatial data or analytical methods previously applied to water quality to calculate biodiversity or carbon values).
- Innovative projects that utilize established conservation values associated with SFI certification to engage key market influencers, brand owners, conservation stakeholders and related interests.
- Pilot efforts or studies which help fulfill sustainability data gaps associated with corporate responsibility commitments. (e.g. research that illustrates forest carbon values relative to a specific product line – projects that feature collaboration with consumer-facing brands would be highly desirable in this category)
- Pilot efforts or studies that take previously funded Conservation Impact investigations to scale. Projects in this category are not limited to past Conservation Impact grantees, but rather, could include new projects that utilize past results of such grantees, and expand the impact of this work through collaborative approaches.
- Studies that assess conservation values associated with the footprint of mills or facilities certified to the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard.
Eligibility Criteria
All proposals must meet the core requirements listed here. Projects which do not meet these core requirements will not be considered:
- The proposal should include a clear and concise statement of purpose, detailing the anticipated connection between sustainably managed forests and the conservation values in question, in addition to the intended scope of results.
- Projects must be collaborative and involve at least one Project Partner, in addition to the Lead Organization. Additional Project Partners may strengthen the proposal. Letters of support from Project Partner(s) should be included with the application.
- Projects must include an SFI Program Participant or a SFI Implementation Committee (SIC) as a Project Partner, and where applicable must take place in part or in whole on lands/sources certified to the SFI 2015-2019 Forest Management Standard or lands providing fiber through the SFI 2015-2019 Fiber Sourcing Standard”. Projects involving multiple SFI Program Participants where organizations collaboratively share data are particularly encouraged. Letters of support from Program Participants or Implementation Committees should be included with the application.
- The project results must have implications or benefits that are applicable to multiple sites or geographies, or which may be adaptable to a larger scale.
- The Project Lead Organization (i.e. the Applicant) must be a tax exempt, non-profit organization (e.g., a 501(c) (3) in the US or registered with the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency in Canada) whose scope encompasses expertise in improved forest management, forest conservation, wildlife habitat, water resources, or other areas that would support a project related to one or more of the topics outlined in the RFP.
- Note: SFI Implementation Committees, Colleges, universities and schools qualify as non-profit organizations; however additional non-profit conservation partners will increase the strength of the application. Indigenous groups are also eligible to apply.
- Applicants must submit a tax identification number as proof of tax-exempt status within the Online Application Form, if applicable.
- All Project Partners involved in the Project must agree to authorize SFI Inc. to publicize the Project and to use their names, images, logos and information about the Project in such publicity. All Organizations listed in the application will be required to sign a Communications Agreement to this effect. The Lead Organization will provide electronic signature of the Communications Agreement within the Online Application Form. A copy of this agreement is provided as Appendix II in the instruction document. Any additional Project Partners joining the Project after an application is accepted by SFI Inc. will also be required to sign the agreement. To the extent possible, SFI Inc. will work cooperatively with Project Partners on any publicity associated with the project.
How to Apply
Proposals must be submitted via SFI’s Online Application Form.
For more information, please visit https://www.sfiprogram.org/conservation-grant-rfp-process/