Wetlands International's Seed Funding Facility for wetlands and poverty reduction (27/07/06)

Good morning everyone:

I'm forwarding this announcement on behalf of Maria Stolk of Wetlands International's Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project . Links at the bottom of this message lead to some associated documents.

Best regards, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

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Wetlands International’s Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project will support partnerships to prepare project proposals that address poverty-environment issues in wetlands

SEED FUNDING FACILITY --- CALL FOR PROJECT CONCEPTS

The Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project (WPRP) is a 4-year project that aims to influence policy and practice at all levels to enhance the recognition of the interconnection between human well-being and wetland management. Through activities focused on local demonstration, capacity building and awareness-raising, the WPRP will contribute to the wise-use of wetlands and poverty reduction. Over the next 2.5 years, the WPRP’s Seed Funding Facility will make €350,000 available to support partnership processes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Additional details on the Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project are available from Wetlands International’s website at www.wetlands.org/WPRP.

What is the Seed Funding Facility?
The Seed Funding Facility will provide funds to support conservation and development/aid organizations to work collaboratively together and engage with local and regional actors in the development of project proposals that address wetlands-poverty issues. Supporting these processes and partnerships will result in up to 20 new project proposals being submitted to donors (i.e. bi-lateral and multi-lateral development agencies, conservation and/or development NGOs, private foundations and/or the corporate sector) for future funding consideration.

The Seed Funding Facility will not fund projects – only the development of project proposals.

The maximum amount that can be requested from the Seed Funding Facility is €25.000. The maximum amount under the Seed Funding Facility will be granted only in exceptional cases.

What are the criteria for eligibility for the Seed Funding Facility?
To be eligible for consideration under the Seed Funding Facility, project concepts must meet the following minimum criteria:

1. Partnership: Project concepts must be submitted by a collaborative partnership involving organizations from the development/aid and conservation sectors.
2. Issue and focus: Project concepts must combine a pro-poor ecosystem-based approach that focuses on sustainable livelihoods and address the critical links between wetlands, water and poverty.
3. Local participation and gender: The partnership must integrate and work directly with local people taking special account of the needs of women, the vulnerable and other minority groups.
4. Influencing policy: Project concepts must indicate how they intend to influence policy processes and achieve policy change at the local and regional levels.
5. Eligibility: The Seed Funding Facility welcomes project concepts from any country in Africa, Asia and Latin America on the DAC1 List of Aid Recipients (for a DAC1 list click here). However, within this list, the WPRP will give priority to the following countries:

How to apply to the Seed Funding Facility?
Project concepts should be submitted in English, have a maximum of 5 pages, address the criteria mentioned above and follow the structure outlined below:

1. Background and justification.

-Issue: Describe the issues, problems, conditions, and challenges of the project concept. Where is the project going to take place?
-Links: Describe the links between the project concept and the goals and objectives of the Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project. How will the project concept help the WPRP achieve its goal and objectives?
-Poverty: Outline how the final project proposal will address measurable forms of poverty such as improving food security, reducing vulnerability to natural events, improving human health, expanding economic opportunities, empowering the most vulnerable members of civil society – including women and enhancing their access to education and decision-making, improving tenure rights or access to resources and preventing the loss of relevant traditional knowledge and cultures.

2. Description of the process to develop the project proposal.

-Partnership: Describe how the partnership will work and structure its relationship, roles, responsibilities and decision-making processes. How will it deal with conflict? Explain why the partnership is well suited to address the issues identified above.
-Activities: Describe the activities that will be undertaken to develop the project proposal. These may include but not be limited to: 1) identification and consultation of local partners from other sectors, 2) consolidation of partnership agreements, 3) planning activities with local stakeholders 4) definition of goals and aims of the project proposal, 5) identification of indicators of success 6) identification of risks, 7) identification of possible donors and project submission requirements 8) drafting the project proposal 9) proposal translation to English, 10) submission of project proposal to donors etc.

Explain how this process of development the project proposal will involve local stakeholders, minority groups and benefit from local and traditional knowledge.

Explain how this process will help to build capacity among the organizations, local communities and groups involved.

-Time: Indicate how much time the process and activities will take. Include a simple time chart indicating main activities, duration, dates and outputs. An example of such a time chart is attached.

3. Budget: Include a detailed budget (in Excel) using the spreadsheet provided. Provide detail on how the cost for each budget line/item was calculated.

4. Information on the partnering organizations
Core information on the lead and the partnering organizations must be submitted using the form provided.

When to submit a project concept to the Seed Funding Facility There will be three opportunities to submit project concepts:

2006 Submission deadline à October 15th 2006 (First call)

2007 Submission deadlines à January 15th 2007 (Second call)
à June 15th 2007 (Third call)

Applicants wishing to submit a project concept for the first call should submit their completed documents by e-mail by October 15th, 2006 to:

Maria Eugenia Stolk
Seed Funding Facility Coordinator
Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project
Wetlands International
P.O. Box 471
6700 AL Wageningen
The Netherlands
E-mail: maria.stolk@wetlands.org
T: +31-317-478854 / 8864 (direct)
F: +31-317-8850

What is the process for selection and when will notification be given?
After reviewing all the project concepts, the Demonstration Project Task Group of the Wetlands and Livelihoods Working Group (WLWG) will recommend no more than ten from each round of applications for funding by Wetlands International through the WPRP.

Wetlands International will make the final selection of the project concepts based on those recommendations. All applicants will be notified of the results of their submissions 6-8 weeks after the submission deadline. The latest date by when you will be informed of the result in the First Call is December 4th, 2006. Implementation of the project concepts can start once Wetlands International and the lead organization have signed a grant agreement.

Further information on the WPRP and the WLWG can be found at Wetlands International or by contacting Wetlands International directly.

Is there a mechanism to discuss ideas prior to submission?
The Demonstration Project Task Group of the Wetlands and Livelihoods Working Group (WLWG) will be available to advise applicants on their ideas and the formulation of their project concepts prior to submission. Enquiries to Maria Stolk are welcomed in Spanish and English.

What are the reporting requirements of the Seed Fund Facility?
Draft narrative (mid-term), final project proposals and financial reports will need to be submitted to Wetlands International. Guidelines describing these will be made available as part of a grant agreement.

All grant recipients will be expected to provide a proof that their final project proposal has been submitted to a minimum of 2 donors for funding consideration.

Call for project concepts (Word)

Requested information on the lead organization (Word)

Budget template (Excel)

OECD Development Assistance Committee list of eligible countries (PDF)

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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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