Greg Stone, New England Aquarium
© New England Aquarium
Our grants are designed to create or expand critical areas for conservation, as well as contribute to the financial sustainability and effective management of those areas.
GCF grants fall into three categories:
- Planning/Strategy Development Grants
- Project Implementation Grants
- Long-term Financing Grants
The desired outcome for projects financed with GCF funds is a newly created or expanded conservation area with ongoing management supported by a long-term financing mechanism. See Our Portfolio to read about projects that have received GCF grants.
We are not accepting proposals for new projects at this time. We are focusing on consolidating our existing portfolio and creating the long-term financing strategies for those areas.
The GCF focus on ensuring effective management for the long term is both unique and vital. Many protected areas, once created, lack sufficient funding to be effective. GCF helps design and support endowments, trusts and other special mechanisms that create a steady flow of funds for managing important new protected areas into the future.
Our Long-Term Financing Grants usually take the form of seed capital in endowment funds. In certain circumstances, these grants support land purchases, conservation concession purchases and other innovative strategies. For more details on the requirements for such funds, see Long-Term Financing Vehicles – Conditions for Funding (PDF – 123 KB).
In 2008, we also expanded our portfolio to include Technical Assistance Grants and other initiatives not only to help particular GCF projects overcome specific challenges in the transition to long-term financing, but also to create products and knowledge that can be shared throughout the conservation community.
Learn more about these new initiatives.