Protecting Nature's Underdogs

Application’s Open: 1st January 2025 - 1st March 2025

Award: Up to £30,000

Opportunity: x 6 conservation grants made available to individuals and small organisations working to protect EDGE species or EDGE zones anywhere in the world. Grants will be awarded over a 1 year period, with an optional 1 year no-cost-extension offered to all candidates.

Scope: Increasing the capacity of individuals working to conserve EDGE species and prevent ecosystem loss in, where possible, an EDGE zone. Conservationists will be paired with storytellers to influence local behaviour change towards nature and to increase the impact and reach of conservation activities.

Eligibility criteria: Funding will be allocated to early to mid-career individuals and small organisations, those who are ready to scale up their impact. Applicants must be working to protect EDGE species or EDGE zones, have strong ties to local communities, and are working in applied conservation. We're looking for ambitious, adventurous, pioneers in their field, those who will greatly benefit from funding to help them realise their potential. We know you're out there.

What’s included: Grant of up to £30,000 | Capacity Building In-Person Workshop | Mentorship and Scientific Support | Pairing with a storyteller to increase engagement, impact and visibility of their work | Access to On the Edge’s network.

What we do not fund: To prioritise impact on the ground, we do not support costs associated with conference attendance and travel, ex-situ scientific research, non-local overheads and large organisations.

Applications are now open via this link.

Further details about what to include in your proposal are provided below. Proposals will be submitted to On the Edge’s Natural History team. Applications can be submitted in any language. Though English is preferred, we will work with translators to ensure equitable distribution of funding.

If you’re selected, you’ll receive one-to-one support to develop and deliver your project further.

Here’s a sneak peek at what we will be asking.

Tell us a little more about yourself…

• What is your name?

• What’s your date of birth?

• What is the best way to get in touch with you, if not by email?

• What’s your country of origin?

• Where do you intend to carry out your proposed activities?

• Please list relevant qualifications and experience.

Tell us about your project…

• Project summary: Please describe your project

• What EDGE species or Zones will benefit from your project?

• Why do you want to work with your chosen species?

• What need/issue/threat do you want to address?

• How will your project benefit the conservation of these species or zones? and what impact do you hope to achieve?

• How will you measure impact (long and short term)?

• What are your proposed activities?

• How will you involve local communities in your project?

• Please outline your timeline. (Project can be 12 to 24 months long)

• Please provide an approximate budget breakdown. (Grant budget should be max £30,000. This can be uploaded as an Excel spreadsheet or as a Word document.)

• Why are you the right person to lead this work?

• Do you have any training needs or requests?