Deadline: 21-May-23
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is accepting proposals for the Landscape Level Community Participatory Projects.
The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) implemented by UNDP is a financial mechanism that offers grant assistance to initiatives of Civil Society Organizations and Community Based Organizations that contribute to the environment.
Operational Phase 7 (OP-7) will focus on three (3) ecologically sensitive landscapes namely, Knuckles Conservation Forest and its buffer zone, the coastal region from Mannar to Jaffna and the Colombo Wetlands. It is expected to strengthen civil society organizations and improve socioeconomic conditions of local communities through implementation of participatory environmental conservation, restoration, and sustainable livelihood interventions.
The OP-7 initiative will support communities in target landscapes by developing and implementing projects that are based on and reinforced by global environmental and local sustainable development benefits through Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) including University govern organizations (Unions, Societies, etc.)
Objectives
- To develop innovative, scalable community projects in the three landscapes to promote biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and land degradation.
- In this backdrop, Operational Phase 7 expects to achieve following key targets:
- Rehabilitation of 10,000 hectares of degraded lands through restoration of 3,000 hectares of degraded agricultural lands, restoration of 3,000 hectares of forest and forest lands, restoration of 3,000 hectares of natural grass and shrub lands and restoration of 1,000 hectares of wetlands.
- Conservation of 18,000 hectares of biodiversity through 14,000 hectares of improved practices and 4,000 hectares of sustainable land management in production system
- Mitigation of 278,523 tCO2e direct GHG emissions through interventions under land rehabilitation and
- Ensure participation, social inclusion, especially empowerment of women, youth and persons with disabilities (4,000 direct beneficiaries) in SGP initiatives on environment and livelihood improvement.
Funding Information
- The maximum amount per grant award for the project will be limited to USD 30,000 with applicants required to provide a detailed budgetary estimate
Outcomes
- This call for proposal expects following outcomes through participatory community projects implemented through CSOs to achieve GEF/SGP Operational Phase 7 objective.
- Identify suitable locations and communities to achieve the conservation targets (in consultation with relevant stakeholders). The selection of location/s and community must be done in a transparent and an impartial manner and must be documented. Location level activities must be inline with activities identified through the landscape strategy that are reasonable for implementation.
- Each project intervention must achieve a minimum of,
- 1000 hectares of biodiversity conservation and / or
- 1000 hectares of Soil and water conservation, reduce land degradation and restore degraded lands through sustainable land management practices.
- 250 target direct beneficiaries with equal proportion of women and men.
- Identification of any specific community level trainings and skill development needs for the consideration of Knowledge Management grantees1 of SGP OP-7 assigned for the target landscape. The outcomes of such trainings and workshops must be reported and post training performance should be assessed.
- Synergies should be maintained by working closely with other projects, including SGP projects, operating in the location towards achieving landscape approach and outcomes.
- Collaborate with projects in the location / landscape that carry out similar activities towards scalingup initiatives in the landscape with the assistance of the Capacity Development and Knowledge Management grantees and establish a mechanism to ensure sustainability beyond project period.
- Implementation of activities through wider cross section of community participation and assure minimum of 50% women participation, encouraging higher number of women headed, marginalized, persons with disabilities and youth engagement in project activities.
- Promote initiatives targeting women and other marginalized groups for sustainable incomegenerating interventions and establish at least 1 social enterprise in collaboration with Social Enterprise Development project grantee in the landscape.
- Active collaboration with programmes and initiatives available through other stakeholders such as government, private sector, etc. towards expansion of scope and reach out and green market channel development including eco-tourism and environmental conservation.
Eligibility Criteria
- Proposals can be sent by registered Non-profit organizations such as registered Non-governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organizations, Non-profit Academic organizations and Universities. Organizations that cannot furnish a valid registration shall be subject to disqualification (Non-governmental organizations must be registered under relevant government agencies and must maintain an “active” status.
- Language: Training programmes and other communication programmes with the community should be conducted using suitable languages relevant for the landscape (English and Sinhala/Tamil based on the landscape)
Selection Criteria
- The selection of potential CSOs upon evaluation will be done by the National Steering Committee (NSC) based on the proposal, field assessment and presentation to the NSC. All candidates will be notified on the status of selection once the process is completed. A period of 2 weeks is given to CSOs that are not selected from the date of announcing the status of evaluation to raise any questions regarding the selection (if any) to SGP secretariat in writing. Concerns raised after the deadline on the selection process shall not be entertained by the secretariat. The decision made by the NSC is considered final.
For more information, visit UNDP.