Protect-an-Acre (PAA) Fund Grant

RAN established Protect-an-Acre (PAA) in 1993 to protect the world’s forests and support the rights of their inhabitants through small grants to traditionally under-funded organizations and communities in forest regions. PAA is a grassroots alternative to “buy-an-acre” programs that seek to provide rainforest protection by buying tracts of land, but which often fail to address the priorities or rights of local Indigenous and forest communities.

PAA grants fit seven basic categories.

Top priority is given to:

• Projects emphasizing grassroots organizing, education, training and capacity building to develop skills, increase awareness and/or build alliances towards protection of forests and increased community control over local resources
• Projects emphasizing community-driven, strategic use of non-violent direct action that supports local resistance to destructive development activities such as logging, oil extraction, dam construction and the expansion of monoculture plantations.
• Projects supporting Indigenous communities securing or maintaining legal land title recognition (demarcation of territory, GPS mapping, resource inventories and management plans, meetings with neighboring communities, etc.)

Also supported:

• Environmentally and socially sound sustainable economic alternative initiatives.
• Travel and other opportunities that amplify community voices in regional, national and international forums and provide access to decision makers.
• Field studies and original research used to hold companies accountable for their on-the-ground activities.
• Seed money for emerging grassroots organizations.

Applications are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Applicant’s capacity to carry out proposed activities.
• Project strategy and urgency/includes well-defined objectives and planned activities.
• Scale and scope of community participation, including when applicable that the community where the project is centered and/or that will be impacted by the initiative be engaged in the decision-making process related to the activities.
• Ecological/cultural significance of forest/local environment.
• Project honors and upholds diversity and equity.
• Activities would be significantly enhanced by a small grant/applicant’s annual budget (under $150,000 is prioritized), overall access to resources and previous funding from RAN.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• Although grants are made in all regions and unsolicited proposals are welcome, geographic priority areas are Southeast Asia and South and North America (Native American/First Nations applications are prioritized in the U.S. and Canada).
• Applicants from other regions are encouraged to contact RAN prior to submitting an application to inquire regarding the possibility of funding.

Ineligibility

• PAA does not support individual, governmental, or exclusively academic projects.