The CEPF Small Grants Program India Implementation Team, based in ATREE, Eastern Himalaya Office, Darjeeling, invites proposals from civil society organizations such as non government organizations, community based organizations, academic organizations as well as individual researchers for biodiversity conservation. Applicants are required to have extensive experience in implementing biodiversity conservation projects in Eastern Himalayas region of India. All projects proposed should focus on conservation of the region’s flora and fauna that are in critical danger at key biodiversity sites and corridors in the Khangchendzonga-Singhalila complex (in Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal) and the North Bank Landscape (parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh). The specific species and sites of interest of this Small Grant Program can be found in The Ecosystem Profile of the Eastern Himalayas (a copy can be downloaded from www.cepf.net). Further, a background document on the Program can be downloaded from the ATREE website (www.atree.org). Specific guidelines and format for writing proposals are provided in this background document.

Grants will be provided typically in three different areas as mentioned below:

• For supporting action research for conservation of Critically Endangered and endemic species or ongoing targeted high impact projects having the potential for immediate conservation impact
• For conducting research to fill the information void for priority species in selected sites and corridors. Focus will be given for projects which seek to determine the population and threat status of species from the lesser known taxonomic groups including plants (these are defined in the background note), and
• For supporting scholars for completion of doctoral dissertation on conservation biology with emphasis in the Eastern Himalayas region of India

CEPF is a joint initiative of Conservation International (CI), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the Government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. CEPF provides strategic assistance to non-government organizations, community groups and other civil society partners to help safeguard the earth’s biodiversity hotspots. A fundamental goal of CEPF is to engage civil society in biodiversity conservation. Out of 16 hotspots currently being funded by CEPF globally, the Eastern Himalayas region is the most recent.

Interested institutions may download the CEPF Small Grants Background Note, Application Guidelines and Format from www.atree.org

All completed proposals should be sent electronically directly to

sumankrai@gmail.com

Please note that hard copies of proposals will not be accepted. The last date for submission of proposals is 10 September 2007

For more information contact:

Suman K. Rai,
Country Coordinator CEPF India, & Regional Director, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Darjeeling, India

Tel: (91) 9434045422 & (91) 9933357732
Email: sumankrai@gmail.com