Biodiversity Conservation Grants
Every year, species across the world disappear as a result of overhunting and overfishing. Development pushes animals off of their native habitats into areas where they cannot survive. Much human activity harms the natural world, but some people are fighting against the loss of biodiversity with programs that aim to preserve endangered species. These programs can find funding from a variety of organizations that support efforts to save fragile ecosystems.
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Big Cats Initiative
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The National Geographic Society offers grants for projects that protect endangered big cats. The program's focus is the preservation of lion species, which are quickly disappearing from the wild. If you have an idea for a program to educate the public about lion conservation, stop poaching, change the behavior of locals or help preserve lions in some other way, you can apply for the Big Cats Initiative grant. The goal is to stop the fall of the lion population by the year 2015.
Small Grants Programme
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The Small Grants Programme is funded by the United Nations Development Project as part of the Global Environment Facility. The program gives funds to non-governmental organizations around the world to protect biodiversity in those countries. The grants are awarded on the principle that local action is better at changing people's minds and thus their behavior than are global initiatives. Projects can include community outreach to bolster support for biodiversity projects, the introduction of solutions to environmental problems and programs to expand the use of tested solutions.
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National Science Foundation
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The National Science Foundation's Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories program provides grants to further human understanding of the planet's biodiversity. Grant applicants may propose projects for biodiversity surveys, which involve studying ecosystems to determine the populations of the various species that constitute them. The program also supports scientific studies of individual species to determine how they are related to other species in an effort to create a comprehensive phylogenetic tree. Postdoctoral researchers must have mentors for their projects to be considered.
MacArthur Foundation Conservation Grants
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The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation funds grants that protect biodiversity in certain regions around the world. Projects must be in one of the areas specified by the foundation. The regions are chosen for their high levels of biodiversity coupled with high endemism, which means that many of the species found there cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The Foundation funds projects that are sensitive to the incentives behind damaging human behavior and seek to change them. The Foundation hopes to protect endangered species without devastating the livelihoods of local people.
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