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SAVE THE TIGER FUND

ANNOUNCEMENT

2009 Request for Pre-Proposals

Save The Tiger Fund (STF) is a partnership program between the ExxonMobil Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established in 1995 focused on conservation of wild tigers. Major funding for this program is provided by ExxonMobil Foundation. STF has established partnerships with more than 75 institutions involved in tiger conservation and has awarded them over $17.3 million in more than 334 separate grants. This represents one quarter of all philanthropic funds spent on tiger conservation globally. STF provides support to scientific studies that help devise innovative management interventions for measurable outcomes in tiger population recovery in the rapidly changing human-dominated landscapes of Asia. STF is particularly interested in enhancing direct protection of threatened habitat; improving law enforcement to stop poaching and wildlife trade; strengthening protected area and larger-landscape management; and conducting education campaigns to reduce consumption, poaching, and trade of wildlife.

The wild tiger population is in a precarious state and experiencing a range collapse. Habitat loss across their range and the resurgence of poaching driven by new market demands on tiger parts, products and derivatives are threatening the tiger’s continued existence. Strong collaborative actions are essential to recover and stabilize tiger populations.

STF sponsors effective efforts to stop the killing of wild tigers and to enable wild tigers to recover and flourish, while empowering local people to live in balance with natural resources and providing tangible benefits to them whenever possible. STF seeks proposals for on-the-ground conservation projects that help stabilize or recover wild tiger populations in measurable ways.  To learn more about STF, visit www.savethetigerfund.org.

Background

STF is focusing its investments in tiger conservation on large landscapes and on restoring key corridors to connect fragmented tiger populations through projects that foster wider collaborations. We are seeking projects in the following tiger conservation landscapes (TCL), as outlined in the document, Setting Priorities for the Conservation and Recovery of Wild Tigers: 2005-2015:

• Russian Far East Landscape and China (TCL 1&2),
• Terai Arc Landscape of India and Nepal (TCL40-46),
• Western Ghats Landscape of India (TCL 64-70),
• Leuser Landscape (TCL 14); Central Sumatran Forest, Indonesia (TCL 5-9), and
• Taman Negara-Belum Landscape of Malaysia (TCL 16).

At this time, we are seeking PRE-PROPOSALS only for projects in 2009.

Successful proposals for grants ranging from US$20,000 to US$150,000 and operating on 1-3 year timeframes will have clear, measurable outcomes related to stabilizing or increasing tiger populations in STF targeted landscapes in the next 10 years. Applicants are encouraged to develop proposals that engage local stakeholders in comprehensive and complementary conservation activities. Pre-proposals to establish baseline tiger and prey population estimates at the landscape-level will be considered only if population data are not currently available; there is a set tiger population goal over a specified time; and they incorporate adaptive management principles to mitigate threats to tiger populations.

Funding of Other Tiger Conservation Projects:

STF will also consider proposals for projects in the Tenasserim Landscape in Thailand and Myanmar and projects for reducing tiger trade addressing supply and demand. Smaller grant proposals, for $15,000 - $30,000, will also be considered at a competitive basis from other priority tiger conservation landscapes as outlined in Setting Priorities for the Conservation and Recovery of Wild Tigers: 2005-2015 available at: www.tigermaps.org.

Specific criteria:

We are seeking creative and innovative projects that (in no particular order):

• Stabilize or increase tiger populations in priority landscapes
• Establish and secure large tiger habitats
• Establish baseline population estimates of tigers, prey, and habitat with a follow-up monitoring system
• Adapt implementation of available best practices in tiger conservation rather than reinvent the wheel
• Are relevant to management agencies and the conservation communities
• Address the issues contributing to tiger population decline
• Are cost effective and sustainable
• Develop a landscape-level conservation vision for tiger landscapes that have buy-in from governments, local communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), other donor partners, and development agencies for synergy and leverage funding for other related conservation projects
• Elevate the protection level of currently unprotected breeding tiger populations in the priority landscapes
• Expand the tiger breeding range
• Identify critical wildlife corridor gaps in the landscapes and implement appropriate conservation interventions to restore connectivity
• Protect threatened habitat in priority tiger conservation landscapes
• Reduce consumption, poaching, and trade of tigers
• Reduce human-tiger conflicts
  

Innovative priorities:

Grant proposals should demonstrate innovation and excellence in the development and dissemination of best practices in tiger conservation, capacity building, grooming future tiger conservation leadership, addressing tiger poaching and trade network, resolving human-tiger conflicts, or mainstreaming tiger conservation into national and regional development plans. These may include:

• Determining the benefits of tiger and tiger habitat conservation for biodiversity, ecosystem services, or carbon sequestration,
• Developing sustainable financing measures through carbon-financing mechanisms, allocation of community resources, or other alternative financing efforts,
• And reaching new target audiences, demonstrating a technology or practice in a new region, and/or developing programs to accelerate widespread adoption of best practices.

These projects should aim to accelerate adoption of practices that are known to be effective at reducing threats to tiger populations or habitat, but have not been fully implemented throughout the region or within a specific tiger conservation landscape. Barriers to implementation may be social, cultural, economic, political, and technical, as well as due to lack of professional acceptance or general lack of awareness.

Additional Grant Guidelines

The following additional guidelines will be used by an advisory team of experts to evaluate proposals requesting support under this solicitation.

• Projects must be able to demonstrate real, measurable conservation results. Applicants must include information on anticipated outputs (i.e. activities and/or associated work products performed or conducted during the proposed funding period) and outcomes (i.e. results, effects, consequences of a recipient’s actions) for their projects.
• Projects should be ready to begin implementation within six months of the grant award.
• Projects must be complete within the time frame stipulated upon receipt of grant award.
• Projects should be technically sound, feasible and carried out by qualified individuals and organizations. Applicants are encouraged to provide documentation of technical assistance.
• Projects must have the necessary permits and documentation if government approval is required to implement the project.
  

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

An advisory team of experts will review, evaluate and score projects based on the following criteria:

• Practical Solutions

  1. Ability to increase collective knowledge about the most sustainable and cost-effective tiger conservation strategies
  2. Extent to which conservation strategies and approaches are technically sound, cost-effective, and ready for on-the-ground application
  3. Ability to sustain conservation beyond the term of the grant
     
     

• Environmental Results

Extent of environmental outcomes achieved by the project.

• Socio-Economic Sustainability

Extent to which the project accounts for existing human and development pressures on tiger populations and habitat.

• Innovation

Extent to which the project moves beyond commonplace solutions to achieve greater participation in conservation and accelerated reductions in threats to tiger populations.

• Dissemination

Demonstration of a clear strategy for sharing the expanded collective knowledge of cost-effective, sustainable conservation strategies with others engaged in wildlife restoration in South and South East Asia.

• Partnerships

Existence of strong and effective stakeholder stewardship and support (e.g. effective working relationships among public, private, and non-profit organizations).

• Budget

Clearly presented and reasonable budget that identifies the resources necessary to feasibly conduct the project.

All pre-proposals must be submitted by October 24, 2008.

Promising pre-proposals will be invited to develop full proposals on November 14, 2008.

Pre-proposals will be submitted online through our EasyGrant application process. This submission process helps STF ensure a fair review of all submitted applications.

Submission of Pre-proposals

When you are ready to begin the application process, go to  www.nfwf.org/EasyGrants to register in our new Easy Grants online system. Enter your applicant information and then select Save The Tiger Fund from the list of programs and follow the instructions. Once you begin, you may save your application in progress and return later to complete and submit your pre-proposal.

Tips for Completing the “Grant Request Information” in Easy Grants

1. Project Title: Give it a short, descriptive name that will distinguish it from the competition. Project titles serve as an introduction of the project to general audiences and should be able to succinctly convey project activities. Please don’t call your project “Helping Tigers Survive” as generic titles obscure the project priorities and location of activities.
2. Two Sentence Project Summary: Use the first sentence to describe what your project will achieve and the second sentence to describe what is innovative about your project.
3. Long Term Outcome(s) of Project: Please include projected results associated with the successful implementation of your project. Other long-term outcomes related to habitat restoration and living resources response are encouraged, as are outcomes that track the dissemination and transferability of your project results. It is helpful to distinguish between outcomes achieved at your project’s completion, and outcomes achieved three-to-five years after project completion.
4. Project Location Description: Please include the country, region or protected area where the project will occur.
5. Total Amount Requested: The minimum is $20,000; maximum $150,000.
6. Total Match Amount Proposed: The anticipated amount of funds necessary--in addition to STF’s contribution--to complete the project.
7. Proposed Grant Period: Projects should generally begin activities between May and September 2009 and be completed within one- to three-years.
8. Matching Contributions: Matching funds may include both cash and in-kind contributions. Indirect costs and overhead may not be used as match.
   

General Procedures for Recipients

After project selection, Save The Tiger Fund staff will work with applicants to prepare grant agreements and other necessary paperwork, all of which will now be conducted electronically using NFWF’s Easy Grants online system. Additional information about the grantee’s organization and its finances may be solicited during this time. Please note that preparation of grant agreements will take approximately 4 to 8 weeks after receipt of the additional information by the Foundation. Once grant agreements are finalized, funds will be advanced to qualified grantees based on immediate cash needs of the project; some awards may be made on a reimbursable basis. Grantees will be expected to submit interim and final financial and programmatic reports.  Additional information on the grant process will be provided to successful applicants after project selection.

Please review the guidelines of this Request for Proposals carefully. For additional information, or assistance with developing logic frameworks, please contact Garrett Barnicoat (Garrett.Barnicoat@nfwf.org) via e-mail or at (202) 857-0166.

Resources:

Save The Tiger Fund’s funding priorities, described in Setting Priorities for the Conservation and Recovery of Wild Tigers: 2005-2015, may be viewed at http://www.savethetigerfund.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Full_Reports.