The New England Biolabs Foundation (NEBF) Grant Program is now open to foster community-based conservation of landscapes and seascapes and the biocultural diversity found in these places.
NEBF recognizes that the natural and cultural values of these areas are inextricably linked and that Indigenous Peoples and local communities play a fundamental role in their stewardship.
Thematic Areas
NEBF supports communities in the stewardship of their landscapes and seascapes and the biocultural diversity found in these places. They welcome inquiries from nonprofit organizations working to:
Conserve terrestrial and marine biological diversity.
Sustain cultural diversity, linguistic diversity, and traditional knowledge systems and practices.
Maintain ecosystem services (including, water, soil, and carbon sequestration).
Support food sovereignty and economic vitality of local communities.
Sustain healthy reefs and fisheries.
And, in coastal communities along the North Shore of Massachusetts, in addition to the thematic areas listed above, they support artistic expression projects that at their core:
Raise awareness of an issue or catalyze action.
Help promote the protection of the environment.
Help foster community diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Funding Information
The international grants range from $5,000 to $15,000, and the local grants range from $4,000 to $10,000.
Please note that first-time applicants are unlikely to be considered for the maximum amount.
Approaches
NEBF supports community-based projects that seek to meet their objectives in a variety of ways, Among the kinds of approaches they support are those concerned with:
Creating and/or ensuring effective management of terrestrial and marine protected areas, in particular where governance is led by communities (e.g., Indigenous Peoples’ and Community-Conserved Areas and Territories [ICCAs]).
Ecological restoration involving native species, prioritizing efforts linked to existing conservation areas already valued by communities (e.g., a watershed, community forest, or sacred grove).
Providing enhanced and alternative livelihoods to support local economies and community well-being (e.g., through agroecology and non-timber forest products).
Environmental education that draws on Indigenous and local traditions and languages to address present-day problems.
Use of the arts and other innovative methods to convey social and environmental messages.
Fostering civic engagement of communities through creative facilitation and other methods (e.g., community-mapping exercises).
Geographic Areas
The Foundation encourages proposals for community-based projects in settings where the small grants can make the most significant impact. Because they are a small foundation, they must limit the grants to specific countries and target landscapes and cannot consider requests from areas outside of the geographic focus.
Central America
Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras
Coastal landscapes/seascapes within the Gulf of Honduras and the Bay Islands
Nicaragua
Southern Pacific coast of Nicaragua, including Lake Nicaragua
Northern Caribbean coast within Nicaragua’s North Atlantic Autonomous Region
Andean South America
Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia
Andes-Amazon Basin of Ecuador and Peru
Sacred Valley of the Incas, extending from Ollantaytambo to Pisac in the Southern Andes of Peru
In Bolivia, that portion of the Altiplano extending from Lake Titicaca to Lake Poopó, and beyond to Sucre
West Africa
Ghana
Weto Landscape/Togo Plateau in the southern part of the Togo-Atakora Mountains in Ghana
Black Volta Basin in the Upper West region of Ghana
Cameroon
Highland landscapes of Southwest Cameroon
North Shore of Massachusetts, United States
While the foundation’s emphasis is on working internationally, they fund a limited number of local projects in coastal communities along the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Organizations working in these regions are welcome to approach them.
Restrictions
New England Biolabs Foundation grants are limited to organizations that hold charitable status in their respective countries. Eligible organizations must operate on a not-for-profit basis and stand by a mission to benefit local communities.
They do not typically fund:
Capital endowments, renovations, or building funds
