Native Plant Conservation Initiative
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is soliciting
proposals for the 2009 Native Plant Conservation Initiative (NPCI)
grants cycle. The NPCI grant program is conducted in cooperation with
the Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA), a partnership between the
Foundation, ten federal agencies, and more than 270 non-governmental
organizations. PCA provides a framework and strategy for linking
resources and expertise in developing a coordinated national approach to
the conservation of native plants. Since 1995, the NPCI grant
program has funded multi-stakeholder projects that focus on the
conservation of native plants and pollinators under any of the following
6 focal areas: conservation, education, restoration, research,
sustainability, and data linkages.
Application Deadline: July 1, 2009
Project selection criteria
Proposals must meet the minimum eligibility requirements, as
described in the request for proposals. There is a strong preference for
"on-the-ground" projects that provide plant conservation benefit
according to the priorities established by one or more of the funding
federal agencies and to the Plant Conservation Alliance strategies for
plant conservation.
In addition, proposals are evaluated on the following
criteria:
• Focus: In 2009, NPCI is
particularly interested in projects that focus on the effects of climate
change as it pertains to the conservation, education, restoration,
research, sustainability, and creating data linkages that facilitate
North American native plant conservation in the 21st century
• Scope: Projects that benefit multiple
species, achieve a variety of resource management objectives, and/or
lead to revised management practices that reduce the causes of habitat
degradation. A special emphasis is placed on larger projects that
demonstrate a landscape-level approach and produce lasting, broad-based
results on the ground.
• Conservation Need: Projects that
demonstrate a critical conservation need, are identified as high
priority, and/or work to conserve an area documented for unique
biodiversity or containing a special-status species.
• Innovation: Projects that encourage public
involvement, develop new technologies that can be applied successfully
elsewhere, and/or teach proven habitat restoration methodologies by
example.
• Leverage: Projects that highly leverage
the funds requested under this RFP with non-federal funds (i.e.,
exceeding the minimum 1:1 federal/non-federal requirement), in the form
of cash and/or contributed goods and services.
• Partnerships: Projects that involve
multiple federal, tribal, state, and local governments; corporations;
private landowners; communities; and/or non-profit groups.
Staff Representative
Teal Edelen
Acting Program Director, National Wildlife Refuge Programs
Teal.Edelen@nfwf.org
