The Waterloo Foundation is accepting applications to protect tropical rainforests for their value to the climate, communities and biodiversity, principally through avoided deforestation.

Project Criteria

Local Projects

• Applications for practical local projects that we will consider would typically be working on a specified tropical rainforest area, defined in hectares. They will generally only accept applications for the protection of areas larger than 10,000 hectares. Applicants will need to demonstrate how their project involves:
  • Exposing, addressing and overcoming the local drivers of deforestation
  • Management of the specified area
  • Methods to measure and monitor the protected area
  • Sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities

Strategic projects

• They will consider applications for strategic projects that are working on addressing the drivers of deforestation on a wider or international scale. These could include:
  • Working on international or regional forest policy
  • Campaigning for improved practices in commerce
  • Innovative ways of reducing deforestation e.g. financial systems or solutions based on the value of forest ecosystem services

Funding Information

The majority of their grants in this programme will be for a total of £50,000 – £100,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• The programme provides funding support to UK-based charities, many of whom work in close partnership with smaller local NGOs based in the countries in which they operate.
• Specific Application requirements:
  • For tropical rainforest local projects:
    • Applicants should be able to evidence previous successful tropical rainforest projects, with outcomes including:
      • Demonstrable protection of an area of tropical rainforest specified by hectare and cost;
      • Implementation of a management plan;
      • Improved livelihoods and income levels of forest-dependent communities.
      • The area of tropical forest the project will protect in hectares.
  • For tropical rainforest strategic projects:
    • Evidence of previous successful strategic programmes e.g. an attributable change in policy or improved supply chain. We may ask to see a full copy of the supporting data and evaluation at a later stage;
    • For your proposed programme, the specific measurable outcomes that you expect the programme to achieve, and the methods you will use to monitor these outcomes;
    • The strategy put in place to ensure the sustainability of the programme’s objectives for the long term.

For more information, visit Tropical Rainforests Programme.