As a part of Save our Species (SOS) African Wildlife initiative, they inviting proposals for Rapid Action Grants targeting terrestrial or freshwater threatened species in continental Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.

They are designed to enable immediate responses to new and emerging threats. Rapid Action Grants are now also open to projects responding to threats linked to COVID-19 crisis and its consequences. 

Objectives

The objective of this Call for Proposals is to enable and support CSOs engaged in the conservation of threatened species (terrestrial and freshwater) to carry out urgent conservation measures at local level to protect the species and their habitat. Eligible projects should respond to emergency situations requiring rapid action, rather than proposing programmatic action on long-standing issues. This specifically includes projects responding to threats linked to COVID-19 crisis and its consequences.

Funding Information

Maximum grant size for the Rapid Action Grant is EUR 100,000 with no matching funds required.

Duration

The maximum duration of the project should be 12 months.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for a grant the applicant must be:

• A legal person
• Be non-profit-making
• Be a civil society entity, local or international non-governmental organisation.
• Projects presented by local and national CSOs, including indigenous organizations (Community Based Organisations) will be favourably considered.
• African NGOs are encouraged to apply.
• International NGOs applying will be required to work closely with national stakeholders, local communities and with the consent and all required authorizations from the government. If international NGOs apply, overseas costs (indirect costs, salaries and international travel) will have to be minimal and justification for their need provided. In the case of international NGOs having a legally registered office in Africa, SOS will privilege the signature of a grant agreement and direct transfer of funds to their African registered office. Working with governments is encouraged although governments and government-affiliated entities are not eligible to receive grants directly. The costs of travel for government bodies (for example for attending a workshop) can be reimbursed if they are directly linked to the project.
• An application can be submitted by several partners.Partners participate in designing and implementing the project, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead partner. Partners must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead partner. If awarded the grant contract, the partner(s) (if any) will become beneficiary (ies) in the project (together with the lead partner as coordinator).
• Grantees cannot have a conflict of interest in applying for this call. A conflict of interest may arise in particular as a result of economic interests, political or national affinities, family or emotional ties, or any other relevant connection or shared interest.
• Grantees cannot be current employees of IUCN or close relatives (i.e. immediate family) of IUCN employees.

Eligible Activities

A range of conservation activities are eligible including, but not limited to, the following:

• Investigation of sudden new threats to species in specific locations (diseases, pollution, stranding, oil spill, anarchic development);
• Rapid support for specific actions aiming at preserving highly threatened species (targeted support for protected areas, meeting to agree last chance emergency measures, purchase of crucial equipment to protect specific threatened species);
• Urgent surveys and monitoring in the face of development;
• Activities that respond to emergencies resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in place to contain it, such as:
  • Maintaining or increasing the frequency and coverage of anti-poaching patrols in response to the risk of increased poaching incidents;
  • Preventing the transmission of the coronavirus from humans to wild animals, particularly great apes;
  • Developing alternative livelihoods for local communities who have suffered income losses as a result of the pandemic;
  • Other conservation activities targeting threatened species, where there is a demonstrable loss of funding as a result of the pandemic.
• Proposed activities must observe all relevant environmental and social Principles and Standards. Short-listed projects will be subjected to a full Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) screening through the use of the ESMS questionnaire.
• Projects must be implemented in Sub-Saharan continental Africa or Madagascar. The following countries are eligible: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, GuineaBissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Ineligible Activities

• Projects proposing pure research activities, captive breeding or conservation planning are not eligible.
• The following types of action are ineligible: the purchase of land, buildings and firearms, activities adversely affecting people and local communities or where these communities have not provided their broad support to the project activities (e.g. involuntary resettlement of people), the removal or altering of any physical cultural property (includes sites having archaeological, paleontological, historical, religious, or unique natural values) and activities that duplicate work previously funded by SOS.

For more information, visit SOS.