ABC Conservation Fund up to £3,000

ABC is offering Conservation Awards, within The ABC's Conservation Programme that supports small to medium sized conservation projects in Africa. Since 1996, it has supported a wide variety of projects including training courses, research into threatened species and promotion and awareness of conservation issues in Africa.

The Club aims to encourage as wide a range of ideas as possible, and funds approximately 10-15 Conservation Awards each year. Many different types of project can be considered so long as there is a clear conservation objective. These could include: 

• survey and research into African birds;
• educational projects or training courses;
• production of guides to the common birds of a country in local languages;
• interpretation material for nature reserves;
• other ideas will be considered.

Maximum Grant £3,000

• As the fund is small, several restrictions will apply:
• applicants must be normally resident in Africa;
• ideally, the requested grant from ABC should be a major part of the project budget; 
• requests for contributions towards academic fees will not normally be considered;
• however funding for field projects that are being carried out as part of an academic study may be considered if funding from the academic institution is not available;
• We will also ask for a final project report which we may chose to publish on our website or in our bulletin. 

Requirements:

• Summary: This should give a brief description of the aims of the project; the people and organisations involved; the location and an outline of the methods.
• Justification: This section is extremely important as the ABC cannot fund all of the applications it receives and has to target high priority projects. This should include, for example:

1. For species-based projects the IUCN conservation status of the species involved;
2. For site-based projects a description of the habitat types, current threats and whether the area has any designation such as a protected area or Important Bird Area;
3. How the proposed project will benefit the species, or the area in which it is found;
4. A description of any training or skills transfer involved in the project;
5. For educational projects, what the benefits of the proposed project will be.

• Methods: The committee will look for the following points:

1. A description of the methods to be used;
2. Why these methods are being used;
3. A timetable of the various stages of the project, including the dates the preliminary and final reports will be produced.

• Project outputs: Give details of reports, workshops, educational materials, training etc undertaken and how these outputs will be disseminated to local communities, government and conservationists. Quantify these where possible.
• Conservation Impact: Describe how your project will benefit conservation.
• Qualifications of project proponents: Give names and brief summaries of the qualifications and experience relevant to this proposal of the key personnel. For example if your project involves mist-netting and ringing, give details of accreditation to a national ringing scheme.
• Referee: It would help the assessment of the applications if the applicant can supply the name, address email and phone number of someone who can comment knowledgeably on the application. This could be an ABC Country Representative (addresses are published in the bulletin and on this website), a staff member of a BirdLife Partner organisation, or someone from an academic or conservation institution.
• References: Provide a list of the main references used to produce the project proposal.
• Budget: Provide a complete breakdown in table format of the costs of the project including materials, transport, living allowances, report production etc. Give costs in local currency and show conversion rate to £UK (pounds sterling). If the application is part of a larger project, indicate the total cost and clearly identify the elements you are asking ABC to support. What will happen to any equipment bought with ABC funding?

About ABC:

A group for those with a common interest in the birds of Africa and their conservation. Managed by the African Bird Club, a UK-registered charity (1184309) dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats across Africa.

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