Deadline: 31-Oct-22

The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is inviting nominations for the 2023 Whitley Awards to support dynamic, mid-career conservationists to scale up science-based, community-led projects across the Global South.

Award Information

Whitley Awards are worth £40,000 GBP in project funding over one year.

What Projects Will WFN Fund?

• Wildlife conservation projects:  based in countries that are not defined as a High Income Economy by the World Bank. Exceptions to this criterion include Equatorial Guinea and certain island nations in the Caribbean. If you have any questions about eligible countries, please contact WFN.
• Nationals with local support: a key focus of the Whitley Award is to boost the profile of leaders who are nationals of the country in which they are working. There are some exceptions, for example long term residency (15+ years) or commitment to country/region/ building capacity of local team members for future leadership.
• Grassroots conservationists: from locally incorporated NGOs in biodiversity-rich developing countries, rather than in-country staff employed by NGOs headquartered in developed countries
• Good communicators and keen collaborators: people who will benefit from additional media attention, collaborate with others and share results.
• Leadership and teamwork: Whitley Awards are won by inspiring leaders backed by an appropriate team, not individuals working in isolation.
• Scientific evidence : Projects that are based on scientific evidence and understanding – this can be in the leader, expertise on the team, or via partners/collaboration.
• Ecosystem / landscape level projects: are preferred. Genuine flagships are great, but not if results are purely species-specific.
• Local stakeholder involvement: Work involving (and benefitting) the local community and stakeholders is essential.
• Evidence of success: Projects that are able to demonstrate evidence of success. They do not fund pilot projects or work that is at the start-up stage.
• Pragmatic, replicable and scalable: Grassroots, pragmatic work that is realistic, but ambitious too. They look for applicants on the cusp of ‘something big’ and work that is replicable or scalable.
• Measurable outcomes: Actions that will have clear, measurable outcomes – They look for applications that have given careful thought to what indicators can be measured to evidence impact.
• Cost-effective: Projects that demonstrate value for money and ability to manage funding at the Whitley Award level (£40,000). Organizations with Audited Accounts are preferred.
• Need for support: Projects for which an Award will make a big difference. Priority will be given to those that can demonstrate need.
• Sustainable projects: They want the work to continue into the future, well past the Whitley Award. Successful proposals will demonstrate long-term planning.
• Publicity: Work that needs publicity – ones that will do they’ll if ‘doors can be opened’ via the media and enhanced recognition.

Eligibility Criteria

• The strategic focus of the Whitley Awards is national conservation leadership in countries that are not defined as a High Income Economy by the World Bank. Whitley Awards focus on individuals working in locations where international funds are hardest to raise, most needed, and will make the largest conservation impact. Exceptions to this criterion include Equatorial Guinea and certain island nations in the Caribbean. If you have any questions about eligible countries.
• Nationals with local support : Whitley Awards winners are nationals of the countries where their conservation activities are focused (ie they were born there or have lived there a long time and have achieved national status) or are local to the region in which they work. This is because they have found these people often have the understanding necessary to bring about long term change and build capacity locally. Recent expatriates from developed, high-income economy countries are not eligible for Whitley Awards.
• Grassroots conservationists: Whitley Awards seek applicants from grassroots conservationists working for NGOs incorporated in developing countries, rather than in-country staff from NGOs headquartered in developed countries who have access to a greater variety of funds
• Good communicators: All applicants must be able to communicate in English, and be capable of compiling a written report to describe and quantify the success of their work with appropriate academic references. To gain the maximum benefit from winning an Award, you need to be able to utilize media opportunities presented as a result – these can often be even more useful to your cause than the financial award involved. Should you win a Whitley Award, professional media training will form part of the Awards week in the UK
• The Whitley Award is given to an individual. Joint applications and nominations for someone else are not eligible. Government employees are not eligible. However, they are aware that gray areas exist where conservationists will often be affiliated with government institutions in order to operate.

For more information, visit this link.