Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative: Request for Proposals Grant

Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative: Request for Proposals Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Amount: Up to US $25,000
Last Updated: January 19, 2026

Summary

The Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative, led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, aims to support land trusts in conserving private lands for bird protection. With funding for up to fourteen grants, the initiative encourages capacity building and management projects that enhance bird habitats. Eligible organizations can apply for grants to expand conservation efforts through collaboration and innovative strategies, fostering partnerships that leverage additional funding and community support. This initiative highlights the importance of birds in land stewardship and conservation.

Overview

Background Land trusts are an increasingly popular mechanism to protect private lands and potentially conserve birds and their habitats. Through fee acquisitions, voluntary conservation easements, and stewardship, land trusts have become powerful agents of land conservation and their reach continues to expand. From 2005 to 2010, more than 1,400 state, local, and national land trusts in the U.S. have more than doubled their land holdings to 47 million acres – an area larger than all New England states combined and 90% of the land area protected by National Parks. At the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Cornell Lab), we believe land trusts can help birds, and birds can benefit land trusts. To develop mutually beneficial collaborations between land trusts and the bird conservation community, the Cornell Lab’s Conservation Science program launched our Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative in 2013. This initiative provides bird-related resources, tools, partnership, and funding opportunities to advance the pace and impact of land trusts’ protection and stewardship efforts through birds. We aim to build the capacity of land trusts to meet their own goals and to achieve strategic bird conservation on private lands. We support land trusts in prioritizing lands for bird conservation, developing and implementing bird monitoring projects, managing habitats, developing successful funding proposals, and increasing their community support. One objective of the Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative is to provide funding to facilitate high priority, bird-focused conservation projects. Partners are encouraged to use the awarded funds to leverage additional dollars from community groups and other funding agencies, as well as create capacity to accomplish conservation goals. To meet this objective, we are launching a Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative Grant Program. Mission To advise and support land trusts and their partners with capacity building and accomplishing bird conservation on private lands through acquisition and easements prioritization, habitat management and restoration, stewardship, and community outreach. Request for Proposals The Land Trust grant program will fund up to fourteen grants via two tracks: Capacity and Partnership Projects: 6 grants of $10,000 eachManagement and Restoration Projects: 8 grants of $25,000 each Grant-Specific Evaluation Criteria Capacity and Partnership Grants: Projects must build land trust capacity by teaching or demonstrating how birds can enhance strategic planning and mission fulfillment of land trusts (e.g. using eBird as a conservation planning tool), and/or facilitate mutually beneficial collaborations and partnerships with the bird conservation community.Requested grant funding should not exceed $10,000.Applicant land trusts do not need to be accredited.See Example Activities page for ideas of activities that we would consider funding under this grant track. Management and Restoration Grants: Organization should either be an accredited land trust or be working with an accredited land trust as a partner. Ideally the lead applicant should be the accredited land trust.Projects should actively manage, restore, and/or steward land in a way that enhances habitat and promotes bird conservation, with special emphasis on priority species or those identified in State Wildlife Action Plans.Requested grant funding should not exceed $25,000.See Example Activities page for ideas of activities that we would consider funding under this grant track.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applicant organizations must reside within U.S.Project must accomplish or contribute to bird conservation on private lands through activities such as (but not limited to) strategic planning, outreach, habitat management, stewardship, bird monitoring, eBird use, capacity building, and land or easement acquisition.Past land trust awardees are free to apply again to expand their past project, repeat this work at a new preserve, or propose a different project supported by their land trust and partners. Applicants can apply for any of the grant tracks and are welcome to submit or be a partner on more than one proposal for different projects. Expect only one request, for which you are a lead applicant, will be funded if selected.

Ineligibility

These tracks do not fund land or easement acquisition