Darwin Initiative Opens Capability and Capacity Grants

Funding available to develop the capability and capacity of national and local organisations to efficiently deliver effective and successful biodiversity conservation.

The Darwin Initiative is one of Defra’s Biodiversity Challenge Funds, along with Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and Darwin Plus. It competitively awards grants for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction activities in eligible countries, helping these countries meet their commitments under the Multilateral Environment Agreements, Sustainable Development Goals, and national policy.

Elements of successful Darwin Initiative projects are likely to include:

  • Enhancing the Capability and Capacity of national and local stakeholders, to help ensure a project’s long-term legacy
  • Delivering outputs that will achieve both biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction
  • Strengthen the adoption or use of evidence and best practices in biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.

Darwin Initiative Capability & Capacity grants are intended to focus on developing the capability and capacity of national and local organisations (civil society, research institutes and public bodies) to efficiently deliver effective and successful biodiversity conservation – poverty reduction projects. To support the embedding of new skills and knowledge, grants can support practical elements where they are clearly linked to the strengthening of capability and capacity.

Applications must come from an organisation rather than an individual.

Darwin Initiative is entirely Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded, and therefore projects must promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries as a primary objective. However, projects will in practice be expected to be mostly focused on Low Income and Lower Middle-Income countries.

Upper Middle-Income countries (UMICs) are eligible, however, projects applying to work in a UMIC must clearly demonstrate a stronger case for support.

Darwin Capability and Capacity grants will range from £50,000 to £200,000 to support projects for one to two years.

Applications for Round 29 should be submitted via Flexi-Grant by 7 November 2022.

(This report was the subject of a GRANTfinder Newsflash.)