***REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS***

UPDATE FEBRUARY 19, 2013

SavingSpecies is looking to fund new projects. We are soliciting new proposals for funding grants for projects that meet our criteria.

You are invited to send us a brief letter of interest. Should your project fulfill our initial requirements, we will ask you to submit a formal proposal.

WHAT WE DO: We help local conservation groups purchase land for habitat restoration. We may consider funding projects for restoration of land or that is part of an existing conservation area. We maximize our effectiveness by providing grants for the purchase and restoration of land that connects existing habitat fragments, or that prevents isolation of habitat that would otherwise continue due to habitat loss.

HOW WE WORK: As our existing projects demonstrate, our strategy is to fund relatively small land purchases — at most a few hundred hectares — with the aim to create several thousand hectares of continuous habitat. By restoring habitat connections these strategic purchases improve the survival of dozens of endangered species. This approach increases the impact of our limited conservation funds. Our completed projects have involved collaborations and land purchases that, in some cases, were spread out over several years.

WHAT WE DON’T DO: We do not fund purchase of relatively intact habitats. We may, however, fund purchase of such habitat if it is part of a parcel that is otherwise eligible. Purchase of existing reserves, protected areas or otherwise intact habitats cannot be part of the proposal. That said, we have worked successfully with the Small Grants Programme of the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands to purchase intact habitats. Indeed, we view such collaborations — with them and other comparable groups — very favorably. Simply, we welcome partnering with other organizations as part of larger efforts.

TO SUBMIT YOUR LETTER OF INTEREST

Your letter of interest must include:

• A Google Earth map that outlines the area to be acquired. (The programme outputs a jpeg that will suffice.)
• Details of the approximate size of the area to be acquired and its cost.
• A list of the IUCN listed threatened species that are known or thought to live in the area, with their IUCN status (critical endangered, vulnerable, etc).
• A list of officers and a brief history of the in-country NGO that will make the land purchase.
• A brief prospectus on the long-term plans for the purchased land, including a restoration program, whether the NGO will manage it themselves, or turn it over to some national or regional body.

We will request more detail in your full proposal, if it is invited.

Please complete the form here to submit your Letter of Interest. If the form is not working, or if you’d prefer, please email us with the required information (see above for list of requirements for Letter of Interest).

 
HELPFUL GUIDELINES IF YOU ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT A FULL PROPOSAL

If you are invited to submit a full proposal, we’ll provide more specifics to help you tailor your proposal. In the meantime, your first step is to read proposals for the Save the Golden Lion Tamarin and the Save the Greater Bamboo lemur projects. Although these projects involve mammals, we will consider proposals to save any species. Our primary criteria are that the species or area concerned is threatened and buying land will reduce the threat.

SavingSpecies welcomes proposals regarding projects. We have an informal review process, but we do request that you provide enough information for us to make a sound conservation decision.

An ideal project will meet some or all of the following criteria:

• Preserves or restores an area of high biodiversity and/or habitat for critically endangered species
• Provides administration by local or host-country NGO
• Includes proactive measures to reclaim degraded land or preserve existing habitat
• Involves local people to ensure accrual of benefits to them

Please review the requirements below to be sure your project proposal provides the necessary information to be considered. When you have gathered the information, please contact SavingSpecies for additional details on submitting your proposal.

Project proposal requirements:

• Species name and conservation status (e.g., CITES)
• Location of proposed land purchase (geographical coordinates required)
• Area of land to be purchased
• Approximate cost of land to be purchased
• Proposed activity (e.g., reclamation of degraded land, engage local community to preserve existing habitat)
• Name and address of local NGO to act as in-country liaison
• Names and addresses project managers

If you would like to speak with someone about submitting a project or have any questions, please contact SavingSpecies.