NBC Conservation Fund Grant

NBC Conservation Fund Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Neotropical Bird Fund
Amount: Up to US $3,000
Last Updated: December 22, 2025

Summary

The NBC Conservation Fund Grant offers financial support for conservation projects in the Neotropics, focusing on globally threatened species or important sites. Eligible applicants can receive small grants up to $1,500 or medium grants up to $3,000. The fund prioritizes projects that promote local engagement and collaboration with conservation agencies, ensuring a direct impact on species and habitat conservation. This grant is ideal for initiatives aiming to enhance environmental education and community involvement in conservation efforts.

Overview

NBC Conservation Fund The NBC Conservation Awards Programme invites applications for two categories of award. The NBC Conservation Awards Programme invites applications for one of three categories of award the Club is able to offer: Small grants – up to $1,500: available for projects implementing direct conservation actions, or conservation research. Awards are only given to projects carried out by nationals and/or residents of countries in the Neotropics (i.e. the Caribbean, Middle America and South America).Medium grants – up to $3,000: available for projects implementing direct conservation actions, or conservation research. Awards are only given to projects carried out by nationals and/or residents of countries in the Neotropics (i.e. the Caribbean, Middle America and South America).

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. NBC advises that, other than in exceptional cases, awards will only be given to projects that meet all of the following criteria:Projects with a total budget small enough for the NBC award to be a significant proportion of that total.Projects that are likely to achieve constructive local engagement in some form, such as environmental education in local communities, working with local decision-making or land-management organisations, or local/international publicity.Projects that are likely to achieve global conservation benefit.This means that the project must target either globally threatened species or globally important sites, as defined below, in order to be eligible for funding, unless there is an exceptional reason to waive this rule (e.g. species new to science).It is essential that your project makes a direct contribution to species or site conservation, or as a minimum is developed in close collaboration with a conservation agency or organisation.Globally threatened species — those on the IUCN’s global red list. We advise that you look at this website when drafting your project proposal. Note that the NBC does not fund work on species that are only threatened at the national level, and, only rarely funds projects on the globally threatened subspecies of birds that are not threatened at the species level.Site-based projects must focus on the conservation of eitheran Important Bird Area (IBA), or an area proposed as an IBA or recently found to qualify for designation as an IBAor a site within an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) holding habitats that are important to the restricted-range bird species that define the EBAor a protected or potentially protected area that holds or is expected to hold Threatened or Near Threatened bird species.More information on IBAs and EBAs and how they are designated can be read here.Regarding molecular-based projects, the Council is happy to consider projects which seek to determine whether or not a currently globally threatened species is a valid taxon at the species level, e.g. through DNA analysis. However, these projects must also have a meaningful practical conservation component. Even if the results from the analyses suggest that a taxon that had been considered a Threatened species does not deserve species status, the conservation action aspects of the project still need to be carried out given that they will still be benefiting a Threatened taxon or distinctive population. Only in the instance that a taxon that had been considered a Threatened species and is now regarded as a hybrid should the conservation action aspect of the project be changed – other Threatened species in the area or a more generalised campaign would be appropriate alternative approaches. Moreover, any project that requires the capture of threatened species (for studies that involve invasive sampling) need to justify the techniques used and experience of the participants such that any chance of injury to the target birds (and thus impact on populations) is minimised.The Club will consider applications that contribute directly to an academic qualification, but account will be taken of any other funding sources available to the applicant. You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member.

Ineligibility

We do not fund projects that lack a strong conservation focus, e.g. pure avian biology research. Note that the NBC does not fund work on species that are only threatened at the national level, and, only rarely funds projects on the globally threatened subspecies of birds that are not threatened at the species level.