The Darwin Initiative - Biodiversity Conservation and Multidimensional Poverty Reduction

The Darwin Initiative Main invites applications to deliver strong results for biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction based on good evidence, and strongly demonstrate the potential to scale further.

Items

• Elements of successful Darwin Initiative projects are likely to include:
  • Enhancing the Capability and Capacity of national and local stakeholders, to help ensure a project's long-term legacy.
  • Delivering outputs that will achieve both biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.
  • Strengthen the adoption or use of evidence and best practices in biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.

Funding Information

• Darwin Initiative Main grants, ranging from £100,000 to £600,000.
• Duration : Projects should last for between 1 to 3 years maximum, starting on or after 1 April 2024 (but before 30 September 2024), and complete by 31 March 2027.

Scoring Criteria

• Technical, Biodiversity, and Poverty Reduction
• The assessors acknowledge the significant differences between the two stages, especially differences in the supporting evidence (eg CVs are not required at Stage 1). At Stage 1 assessors are looking for applicants and proposals that have the potential to deliver a competitive proposal at Stage 2. At Stage 2, assessors are looking for evidence that proposals are new and distinctive, with a strong probability of delivering sustainable benefits and a scalable approach.
• Capability and capacity building activities should form a core role within the approach, to underpin the legacy of the grant.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead Partners can be based anywhere, but they strongly encourage projects to have in-country Lead Partners.
• All projects are strongly expected to seek and work with in-country partners, with the meaningful and early engagement of in-country stakeholders.
• All projects must consider how they will contribute to reducing inequality between genders, with activities expected to generate net benefits for women and girls.
• Darwin Initiative is entirely Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded, and therefore projects must promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries as a primary objective, and the eligible countries projects will in practice be expected to be mostly focused on Low Income and Lower Middle -Income countries.
• Upper Middle-Income countries (UMICs) are eligible, however, projects applying to work in a UMIC must clearly demonstrate a stronger case for support. This includes operating in areas of high importance for biodiversity and a clear poverty reduction need. Such applications must also clearly demonstrate that they will also:
  • advance knowledge, evidence and impact in Least Developed or Low-Income Countries, or
  • contribute to a global public good, for example by advancing understanding and/or strengthening the knowledge base related to biodiversity conservation/sustainable use and poverty reduction, or
  • contribute to serious and unique advancements on a critical issue as a result of specific circumstances of the upper-middle income country that could not be made elsewhere.