The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is releasing a call for Letters of Inquiry (LoIs) for organizations that address the conservation of biodiversity in light of climate change in the Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot.
The Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles are extremely vulnerable to climate change. People, agricultural land and infrastructure are concentrated in coastal areas, which are exposed to rising sea levels and increased frequency and severity of cyclones. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) promotes the conservation, improved management and restoration of ecosystems to provide the essential services people need to adapt to climate change and variability. While there are a few pilot projects, EbA funding is currently insufficient and CSOs are not sufficiently engaged.
In response to the challenges of climate change in the Indian Ocean island countries, CEPF has prepared a program titled Ecosystem-Based Adaptation in the Indian Ocean, financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), through AFD as the Accredited Entity. The new program provides targeted funding to mobilize CSOs in implementing EbA.
Funding Information
The minimum amount for large grants is US$50,000. Applications with a budget that is inferior to this amount will not be eligible for review.
Projects under this call are expected to start in the last quarter of calendar year 2024 and should not have a time span exceeding 31 December 2026. It is important to mention the duration of the project for which you seek CEPF funding and not the duration of the larger project/program in which it falls, if applicable.
Eligible Geographical Areas
Projects under Strategic Directions 2 and 4 are eligible for all four countries: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.
Eligible Technical Scopes
Eligible projects will be those falling within Strategic Direction 2 or Strategic Direction 4 of the CEPF investment strategy, as per the below details:
Strategic Direction 2: Support local communities and civil society to strengthen the integration of the EbA approach, ecosystem resilience and biodiversity conservation into political and economic decision-making processes and education.
Strategic Direction 4: Support research and ensure the dissemination of results for the promotion and improvement of knowledge on EbA actions and related good practices.
Eligibility Criteria
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community groups and associations, universities and research institutes, small private enterprises and other civil society organizations may apply for funding.
Individuals are not eligible. Individuals should work with CSOs to develop applications rather than apply directly.
A government-owned enterprise or institution is eligible only if it can establish that it:
Has a legal personality independent of any government agency or actor.
Has the authority to request and receive private funds.
May not assert a claim of sovereign immunity.
Applicants based outside the eligible geographic areas may submit an application as long as the project activities meet the conservation needs of this call within the eligible geographies.
Preference will be given to projects that demonstrate:
a leading role for local organizations and/or an explicit focus on capacity building for local civil society, and
a coordination with other organizations to prevent duplication of efforts. As such, joint projects with multiple organizations are eligible, as long as one lead organization submits the application and project partners have clear roles stated in the application.
Applying organizations must have their own bank accounts and be legally authorized to receive grants.
Applicants can already be funded by CEPF on another project.
Language Criteria
Applications can be either in French or English. Other languages will not be considered for review.
