Rainforest Trust

Summary: 

Organizational Profile: Rainforest Trust is a US-based non-profit environmental organization focused on the purchase and protection of tropical lands to strategically conserve threatened species. Rainforest Trust saves endangered wildlife and protects the planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement and donor support. Rainforest Trust's unique, cost-effective conservation model for protecting endangered species has been implemented successfully for over 30 years.
 
Rainforest Trust partners with local conservation organizations to create new protected areas for safeguarding endangered species and exemplary intact landscapes. The protected area types of Rainforest Trust include: 1). Private Reserves: A reserve is a parcel, or several parcels, of land secured for conservation and maintained by our dedicated partners in perpetuity; 2). National Park: Land declared a national park is recognized and protected by the national government with support from our partners and can be open for public enjoyment; 3). Community Forest: In a Community Forest project, local people are directly involved as critical stakeholders in the management of the protected land, and work closely with our partners and the government to make land-use decisions; 4). Indigenous Land Titling: In these projects, indigenous communities gain legal rights to their land with the help of our partners and government.
 
Financing Instruments: Grants
 
Project Scale: N/A  

Recipient Countries Regions/Country Groups: Subtropics or tropics

Eligibility Criteria: The applicant organization must be authorized to work within the country of the proposed project, and legal documentation will be required at a later stage. The proposed project needs to be based in the subtropics or tropics. If the proposed project area currently has some forms of legally recognized protection (refer to IUCN’s Protected Planet database), there needs to be a potential protected area expansion. The proposed site needs to protect globally significant populations of Critically Endangered (CR) or Endangered (EN) species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, protect an intact landscape, or mitigate global climate change.

Application Guidelines: Project development and review at Rainforest Trust is a dynamic process where partners work extensively with their Conservation Team to develop project proposals. To be considered, interested organizations must:

1.    Complete a short Eligibility Questionnaire available at the website of the Rainforest Trust.

2.    Complete and submit a Concept Note. If your organization and project are eligible, you will be provided with the Concept Note template from Rainforest Trust to complete.

  • Concept notes are accepted anytime.
  • However, if you are submitting a Concept Note for a Protected Area Full Award and you would like it to be considered by the below Application deadlines (see Step 3), we recommend submitting your Concept Note at least two months in advance of these deadlines.
  • Rapid Feasibility Awards have no deadlines.

3.    Complete and submit an Application. Based on your Concept Note, if your project fits the criteria of Rainforest Trust, you will be contacted to begin work on a more detailed Application.

  • The deadlines for submitting Applications for Protected Area Full Awards are February 1, June 1 and November 1 of each calendar year. These Applications are then reviewed and approved by Rainforest Trust’s Board of Directors. Approved Protected Area Full Awards typically start no earlier than 6 months after the above Application deadlines.
  • Rapid Feasibility Awards have no deadlines. Once Applications for Rapid Feasibility Awards are approved, they can begin soon thereafter. See the description of Rapid Feasibility Awards available at the Rainforest Trust for more information.
Publication Date
Thursday, 24 March 2022
Applicable location
Africa
Americas
Asia
Oceania
Topic/Theme
Forest conservation and management
Climate change
Forest landscape restoration
Database
Financing opportunities