Environment - Tropical Rainforests Funding Grant

Environment - Tropical Rainforests Funding Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Waterloo Foundation, The (TWF)
Amount: £50,000 - £100,000
Last Updated: September 19, 2025

Summary

The Waterloo Foundation supports projects aimed at preserving tropical rainforests, which are critical for biodiversity and climate regulation. Funding is directed towards initiatives that mitigate deforestation, with a focus on practical local projects and strategic policy efforts. Eligible applicants include UK-based charities and organizations with strong local partnerships. The foundation prioritizes impactful projects that foster sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities, while adhering to stringent eligibility criteria.

Overview

Through our environment fund we want to support projects which can help mitigate the damaging effects that humans are having on the environment and contribute to a positive change both now and in the future. The Tropical Rainforests support for projects protecting tropical rain forest, principally through avoided deforestation. Background The world has approximately 4 billion hectares of forest, representing almost 30% of the Earth's landmass, with roughly 56 percent of these forests lying in tropical and subtropical areas. More than 1 billion people rely heavily on forests for their livelihoods, and they are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than half of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. Forests also play a vital role in global climate regulation through the sequestration and storage of carbon. But despite increased awareness of their importance, forests are experiencing escalating impact from human activities. In recent years we have lost over 3.5 million hectares of primary forest annually, and yet more forests are becoming degraded or fragmented. It has been calculated that the deforestation of tropical forests is responsible for about 20 percent of current global carbon emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. What we will support TWF will consider both practical local projects, and strategic initiatives. Local projects Applications for practical local projects that we will consider would typically be working on a specified tropical rainforest area, defined in hectares. We will generally only accept applications for the protection of areas larger than 10,000 hectares. Applicants will need to demonstrate how their project involves: Exposing, addressing and overcoming the local drivers of deforestationManagement of the specified areaMethods to measure and monitor the protected areaSustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communitiesSecuring land rights or management rights for forest-dependent communities Click here for examples of local projects we have funded through our Tropical Rainforests programme. Strategic projects TWF will consider applications for strategic projects that are working on addressing the drivers of deforestation on a wider or international scale. These could include: Working on international or regional forest policyCampaigning for improved practices in commerceInnovative ways of reducing deforestation e.g. financial systems or solutions based on the value of forest ecosystem services Click here for examples of strategic projects we have funded through our Tropical Rainforests programme.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. TWF prioritises providing funding support to UK-based charities, many of whom work in close partnership with smaller local NGOs based in the countries in which they operate.An organisation based outside of the UK must send contact details for a named person who is willing to provide a reference for the organisation's work. This must be someone who: Works for an international NGO with offices in the UKWorks for an organisation that the Foundation has previously given a grant to Works for an organisation with offices in the UK, which has been a current or former donor to your organisationWorks for an academic institution, think tank or as an independent consultant who is based in the UK, and which has evaluated the organisation.The majority of our grants support projects or programmes, however we will consider all kinds of funding if appropriate. If you would like to apply for a grant that is predominantly for core costs or unrestricted funding, you will need to provide a strong explanation for why this type of funding is appropriate and why your organisation fits within our funding priorities.Grants of this type are more likely to be awarded to organisations which we have previously supported with a grant, and which are invited to apply for this type of funding support. We will consider providing one off and multi-annual grants (usually for up to five years).We will only consider one application per organisation at any one time.

Ineligibility

We are not able to offer funding for:Tree planting projectsProjects focused solely on the use of fuel-efficient stoves Projects with animal conservation as the sole focusResearch projectsProjects focusing on environmental educationWe are currently not accepting proposals for REDD and carbon finance projectsProjects based in countries that are not secure and politically stable. We are therefore unlikely to support projects in conflict-affected areas such as within DRC and CAR.In addition, we only consider proposals from US-based organisations under exceptional circumstances, due to the higher availability of environmental funding in the US compared to the UK.