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AArk Seed Grant

Amphibian Ark Seed Grant Announcement

Amphibian Ark is pleased to announce the fourth annual call for proposals for its Seed Grant program!

This $5,000 competitive grant is designed to fund small start-up rescue projects for species that cannot currently be saved in the wild. Successful proposals will reflect AArk values – please pay careful attention to the grant guidelines below for details on what types of projects are favored.

• focusing on species whose threats cannot be mitigated in nature in time to prevent their extinction and who therefore  require ex situ intervention to persist
• working with species within their native range country
• involving range-country biologists
• adhering to recommended biosecurity standards for ex situ programs
• linking ex situ programs to in situ conservation
• involving partnerships to maximize the likelihood of the program’s long-term sustainability

Grant guidelines can be downloaded as a pdf file. Past grantees can be seen by clicking the links above.

Applications will be due no later than May 1, 2012. Award announcements will be made on May 15 and funds dispersed by June 1, 2012. Progress reports will be due 1 June 2013.

Inquiries can be directed to Kevin Zippel, Program Officer KevinZ@AmphibianArk.org

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, Ronna Erickson, Woodland Park Zoo, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the other AArk supporters who helped establish this grant.

Priority Guidelines – please read very carefully!

This grant is not intended to fund:

• Workshops
• Educational exhibits
• Project overhead or indirect costs

Required:

• An ex situ component. While we do highly value in situ conservation, research, assessment, and education, our funds are extremely limited and so we must insist that all proposals include an ex situ component. Note that in situ conservation, research, assessment, and education can be included as valuable components of any good proposal that otherwise focuses on rescuing species ex situ. Ideally, our support of your ex situ component will help you secure funds for these other components as we tend not to fund “graphic panels” or other components for which other funding could be found. For projects that do not relate to ex situ rescues, consider applying for ASG seed grants (rdmoore@conservation.org).
• Working with species that need to be rescued. Proposals must relate to rescuing species whose threats cannot be mitigated in nature in time to prevent their extinction and which therefore require urgent ex situ intervention to persist. This status should be determined by relevant field experts, e.g., the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group field experts through AArk Conservation Needs Assessment Workshops, or similar processes. While we appreciate efforts to keep regionally threatened but globally stable species common, our limited funds are restricted to projects involving species that need help at a global level.
• Working with species within their native range country. Unless capacity absolutely cannot be built in the range country in time to prevent imminent extinction, the AArk will not fund projects that remove animals from their range country. In addition, every effort should be made to enable national biologists to lead the program.
• Adhering to recommended biosecurity standards. Regardless of where the rescue population is held, measures must be taken to isolate it from allopatric (non-overlapping) species that might be in the collection as well as from the original threat (e.g., chytrid). Please refer to our recommended biosecurity standards.
• Newly launched programs. The concept of a ‘seed’ grant is to fund projects at the very beginning of their life in order to help them attract larger and/or long-term funding for the duration of the program. We do not favour projects that are already well established or have significant funding, although we do not mind seeing some funding in place for complementary components (like fieldwork or education).

Content Requirements

1. Project Title
2. Names, institutional affiliations, and email addresses of project leaders
3. Total funding amount requested from Amphibian Ark in US$
4. Executive summary (300 words or less), including brief background, methods, and anticipated outcomes, with emphasis on actions utilizing AArk funds. Please stress the conservation significance of the work, including the specific conservation need of all species involved (e.g., AArk Priority, IUCN threatened or DD, national priority, etc.) and how the work will help address the threats to the species.
5. Introduction, identifying the main conservation problem, the proposed corrective actions, the anticipated outcomes, and how these relate to the AArk values
6. Methodology, including a succinct description of the proposed work with enough technical detail for evaluation by experienced reviewers

The cumulative length of sections 1-6 should be three pages or less.

7. Budget, no more than one page, with distinction between funds requested from AArk and those from other sources, with the latter specified as ‘requested’ or ‘received’ and from where. Clearly identify the role of AArk funding as a proportion of overall project cost. All costs should be in USD$. See sample below.

8. Scientific citations are not necessary, but limited to half page if included.
9. Timeline of work (example below) and intended dissemination of results.

10. We require 2 types of supporting letter:

- All applicants–whether applying as individuals or as employees representing their organizations–must include at least one letter of endorsement from someone at an unrelated organization. That person should be a recognized leader in the field or at least from an internationally known organization.
– Employees representing their organizations must also submit a letter of institutional support from their employer. This letter is simply to verify that the employer (1) is aware that the applicant is proposing the project and (2) will provide the necessary time and space to complete the proposed work. One such letter is required for each project leader on the application who has a different employer.

Format Guidelines

• Proposals should be submitted in English in font type no smaller than Times 12, with a minimum of one inch (2.5 cm) margins all around.
• The body of the proposal (including content points 1-6 above) must not exceed three pages, excluding budget (≤1 page) and literature cited (≤½ page). Proposals longer than four and a half pages in body length will not be reviewed.
• All materials should be submitted together attached to a single e-mail as .doc or .pdf files. File titles should include the name of the grant’s principal researcher. Only e-mailed proposals will be accepted. Submit proposals to: Dr. Kevin Zippel, Amphibian Program Officer, KevinZ@AmphibianArk.org All correspondence should have “AArk Seed Grant Proposal/principal researcher’s name” in the subject line.

Details of successful applicants for 2009, 2010 and 2011 grants are available.