Deadline: 1 February 2015
The Crowder-Messersmith Conservation Fund is accepting grant applications from organizations in developing countries for projects that will benefit human, plant and animal communities of a particular habitat in an ecologically sustainable manner. The grants provide seed money to communities and individuals whose projects have not attracted major support from other sources.
The Crowder-Messersmith Conservation Fund honoring the two conservation leaders Orville Crowder and Don Messersmith helps small, local conservation and/or education projects in developing countries. The Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) is administrating the fund since 1999.
Grant request can be made for up to $2000 for a year period.
Examples of past grant recipients
- P. Anandan of the Foundation for Research and Sustainable Development in Madurai Tamil Nadu, India to study fruit-eating and insectivorous bats, particularly the Salim Ali Fruit Bat (Latidens salimali) in the Western Ghats Mountains.
- Lilly Ajarova of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Uganda to develop a community awareness program for the children and fishing communities of the Koome Islands in the Mukono District.
- Emily K. Lind of the Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation, Ecuador as part of a larger project to survey birds in Ecuador’s dry forest coast. Grants were provided for printing and distributing laminated bird identification cards to local youth groups, particularily in Tabuga, Camarones, and Jama.
- A small group of dedicated Cape Verdians on Santiago received a grant for their project to rehabilitate, protect, and support eco-touristic use of beaches, lagoons, and the surrounding areas.
- In Fiji, BirdLife International received funds from the Crowder-Messersmith Conservation Fund to train residents of the island of Gau to monitor and protect Collared Petrels.
- In Kenya, a local endemic bird, the Taita thrush, is critically endangered. With a Crowder-Messersmith grant, Kenyans in the Taita Hills region trained forest guards and educated children about the bird, while working with local communities to promote sustainable land use in the Taita thrush’s habitat.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants and projects must be based outside the US or other developed country and include local population.
- United States researchers planning work in foreign countries must have at least one local collaborator and consider how the project will benefit the local communities.
- Proposed project must have lasting significance to local residents, protect threatened or endangered species or habitats, and must have public education component.
- Preference is given to applicants who have a record of prior conservation action relevant to their proposed project.
Note: Applications will be accepted from 1 December 2014 to 1 February 2015.
For more information, please visit Crowder-Messersmith Conservation Fund.
