Call for Proposals 2nd round Western Ghats Small Grants

CALL FOR PROPOSALS - SECOND ROUND


CRITICAL ECOSYSTEM PARTNERSHIP FUND ASHOKA TRUST FOR RESEARCH IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT WESTERN GHATS SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

Table of Contents

Background
The Western Ghats region of India is part of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka global biodiversity hotspot, which is extraordinarily rich in plant and animal species. Although the Western Ghats occupy less than 6 percent of the land area of India, they contain almost 30 percent of all plant and vertebrate species found in the country. There are more than 5,000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 birds, 157 reptiles and 126 amphibians, a high proportion of endemic species and spectacular assemblage of large mammals The Western Ghats support a diversity of natural, semi-natural and agro-ecosystems, numerous medicinal plant species and important genetic resources, such as wild relatives of grains, fruits, and spices. The Western Ghats directly and indirectly support the livelihoods of over 200 million people through ecosystem services. In addition to rich biodiversity, the Western Ghats are home to diverse social, religious, and linguistic groups.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is a joint initiative of l'Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation. To this end, CEPF provides strategic assistance to NGOs, community groups and other civil society partners to help safeguard biodiversity hotspots. This conservation investment is guided by region-specific investment strategies, developed with inputs and in consultation with diverse stakeholders. The Ecosystem Profile for the Western Ghats was developed by conservation and scientific institutions, with inputs from civil society, to guide the strategic and catalytic conservation investment in the Western Ghats.

The council of donors that governs CEPF approved a US$4.5 million, 5-year investment strategy for the Western Ghats in April 2007, based on this Ecosystem Profile. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) was selected as the Regional Implementation Team (RIT) in partnership with CEPF. The RIT leads implementation of the CEPF investment strategy for achieving conservation goals identified in the Ecosystem Profile, and provides assistance to civil society groups in designing, implementing, and replicating successful conservation activities.

CEPF and the RIT will provide grants to civil society organizations to work towards safeguarding globally threatened species and critical sites in the Western Ghats. These investments will promote innovative partnerships between NGOs, government, local communities and land-owners to enhance conservation and connectivity in five landscape corridors in the Western Ghats, and improve the conservation of globally threatened species through systematic conservation planning and action. The grants program expects to achieve this by enhancing the capacity and participation of a wider group of civil society organizations through involving them in creative and innovative long-term conservation partnerships. All grants must address the Strategic Directions set out in the Ecosystem Profile and their nested Investment Priorities.

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Implementation to Date
The first call for Small Grant proposals for the Western Ghats region was made in December 2008, when 36 applications were received. Of these, 22 applications were selected, and these projects are now under implementation.

CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants - List of projects granted

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Objectives
On the basis of the Strategic Directions in the Western Ghats Ecosystem Profile, the grants program has two main objectives:

  1. To enable action by diverse communities and partnerships to ensure conservation of key biodiversity areas and enhance connectivity in the corridors.
  2. To improve the conservation of globally threatened species of the Western Ghats through systematic conservation planning and action.

Under this call for Small Grants, proposals, applicants should focus on the following investment priorities related to these Strategic Directions:

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Strategic Direction 1:
Under this objective, CEPF will support projects in the CEPF Corridors (preference given to the Anamalai and Malnad-Kodagu Corridors) that address one or more of the following priorities:

Investment Priority 1.1: Outside protected areas, CEPF will invest in piloting models of community and private reserves to achieve conservation outcomes at unprotected sites.
Investment Priority 1.2: In the wider matrix, CEPF will promote partnerships to identify, evaluate, and advocate for suitable mechanisms that incorporate critical links (biological corridors) into the protected area network.
Investment Priority 1.3: Within protected areas, CEPF will support civil society groups establish partnerships with state agencies to implement science-based management of priority sites (preference will be given to projects implementing this priority)

A list of priority sites and critical links for CEPF investment is provided in the Ecosystem Profile.

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Strategic Direction 2:
Under this objective, CEPF will support projects focused on supporting systematic conservation planning and action that address one or more of the following priorities:

Investment Priority 2.1: Grants will be awarded to projects that monitor and assess the conservation status of globally threatened species with an emphasis on lesser-known organisms (such as reptiles and fish)
Investment Priority 2.2: CEPF will support efforts to conserve Critically Endangered and Endangered species through the creation and implementation of species recovery and management plans.
Investment Priority 2.3: In order to ensure that site conservation efforts address the needs of all species for which they are required, CEPF will invest in projects to evaluate the existing protected area network in each corridor (one application per corridor) for adequate representation of globally threatened species, and assess the effectiveness of different protected area types in biodiversity conservation (preference will be given to projects implementing this priority).

A list of priority species for CEPF investment in the Western Ghats is provided in the Ecosystem Profile.

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Eligibility
Non-governmental organizations, community groups, universities, and private enterprises may apply for funding. Applications form organizations that propose to build capacity of local civil society and community groups are particularly encouraged. Individuals can apply for grants but are encouraged to work with civil society organizations and communities to develop joint applications, rather than apply directly. Projects must be located in one or more of the following states of the Western Ghats region: Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Projects must support either one Strategic Direction, and one or more the Investment Priorities under the former, outlined in the Ecosystem Profile, to be eligible.

Grants cannot be used for the purchase of land, involuntary resettlement of people, or activities that negatively affect physical cultural resources, including those important to local communities. Grants will not be used for activities adversely affecting Indigenous Peoples or where these communities have not provided their broad support to the project activities. Grants will not be used to remove or alter any physical cultural property (includes sites having archaeological, palaeontological, historical, religious, or unique natural values). Proposed activities should observe all other relevant safeguard and social policies as set out on the CEPF website.

Grant applicants must have their own bank account and PAN numbers (for individuals), and authorization under FCRA regulations (for organizations) to receive the grant in foreign currency (US$). Government-linked institutions are eligible only if they can demonstrate that the institution: (i) has legal personality independent of any government agency; (ii) has the authority to apply for and receive private funds; and (iii) may not assert a claim of sovereign immunity. Applications from formal affiliates of ATREE that have an independent operating board of directors will be accepted, subject to additional external review.

For further clarifications, please contact the RIT at cepfwghats(at)atree(dot)org

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Application Procedure
Applications for Small Grants have to be submitted in prescribed format in electronic version (MSWord) to cepfwghats(at)atree(dot)org. Completed applications (containing questionnaire, proposal and budget) should be emailed to cepfwghats(at)atree(dot)org. An email acknowledging receipt of the application will be sent, and the application will be forwarded to the appropriate member of the RIT. As part of the review process, the submitted proposals will be reviewed by RIT and subsequently by Technical Review Team of experts. Based on merit and the applicant's comparative advantage in helping to implement the strategic directions, the proposal will get approved. Approval of a proposal will be followed by signing of agreement between the applicant and the RIT. Queries or requests for clarifications during this stage can be addressed to cepfwghats(at)atree(dot)org. Application processing time can be expected to be one to two months.

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Amount of grant award
Grants will typically range from US $5000 to US $10,000, disbursed in the form of Indian Rupees. Maximum amount of funds requested in the proposal should not exceed US$20,000.

Deadline: Applicants for small grants are required to complete and submit their proposal using the standard templates (available from http://www.atree.org/wgcall/) before 6 pm Indian Standard Time on 28th February 2010.

Download:
Application Templates

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Contact
Dr Bhaskar Acharya,
Project Co-ordinator,
CEPF-Western Ghats Regional Implementation Team,
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment,
Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore 560064, India
Tel: (+91)80-23540639, Cell: (+91)9008322664 Fax: (+91)80-23530070
Email: cepfwghats(at)atree(dot)org
Website: http://www.atree.org/cepf_wghats

Useful Links:
CEPF - http://www.cepf.net/
ATREE - http://www.atree.org/
Western Ghats Ecosystem Profile: html, (1.9 MB)

Western Ghats Fact sheet: (136 KB)

Western Ghats Conservation Priority Map: (2.8 MB)