Global Forest Watch announced 2019 Small Grants Fund (SGF)

February 2, 2019 BusinessTrumpet

In 2019, the Small Grants Fund will continue to focus on rapid response to deforestation early warning – converting near real-time deforestation or fire alerts into action. Specifically, successful Small Grants Fund applicants will clearly articulate how they plan to incorporate two datasets – the Global Land and Discovery (GLAD) weekly deforestation alerts and/or the VIIRs active fire alerts – into improved forest management, law enforcement and advocacy.

Funding Information

Each cycle:

The SGF awards organizations between $10,000 and $40,000 USD
The number of projects awarded can range from 8-15, with 12 being the average
Trainings and technical assistance are provided throughout the project implementation period, which will run from June 2019 – May 2020.

Organization Eligibility

In order to be eligible, organizations must:

Be legally constituted as non-profit and non-governmental;
Have a total annual budget greater than $30,000 USD;
Possess a computerized financial system for tracking and recording expenses;
Be able to complete an organizational assessment document (containing questions regarding organization governance, financial and compliance structure) in fluent English.
Receive a rating of medium to low risk on WRI’s organizational assessment, which will be carried out once finalists are provisionally selected.

NOTE: Grant recipients are required to undergo a grant-specific audit at the end of the project. GFW will cover the cost of this audit up to a pre-determined amount.

Project Eligibility

The Small Grants Fund seeks applications for projects that clearly demonstrate how the organization intends to use Global Forest Watch’s near real-time data (GLAD alerts and/or VIIRS active fires alerts) to enhance local responses to forest threats. Applicants are also encouraged to use additional GFW data as relevant, including other datasets on forest changes (such as the GLAD annual tree cover loss layer), land cover (such as the Intact Forest Landscapes layer), and land use (such as concessions data). Applications should clearly articulate who the project aims to influence and how project activities will lead to improved identification and response to deforestation. Projects may target one or more of the following actors:
- Companies
- Local or federal government agencies
- Communities
- Journalists
- General public
Projects may employ one or more of the following approaches to influencing these actors:
- Capacity building
- Advocacy
- Enforcement
- Storytelling/journalism