Apply for Grants Offered By Rainforest Trust Protected or Conserved Area Creation Awards 2026, Rainforest Trust provides funding and support to non-profit organizations, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities working to protect vital ecosystems across the tropics and subtropics. Its mission focuses on conserving areas essential for endangered species protection, climate resilience, and community well-being.
Since its founding in 1988, Rainforest Trust has awarded over $361 million to around 315 partners, contributing to the creation and management of more than 400 protected and conserved areas. These efforts have already safeguarded over 57.8 million acres, with ongoing projects aiming to secure an additional 80 million acres.
The organization continuously welcomes new applications for projects that establish or expand protected and conserved areas, following specific criteria and guidance designed to make the application process efficient and impactful.
Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the full details and submit their applications before the specified deadline to seize this grant opportunity.
Last Date of Submission: 1st March 2025
Types of Awards:
(Apply for Grants Offered By Rainforest Trust Protected or Conserved Area Creation Awards 2026)
Broadly speaking, Rainforest Trust offers two types of funding support grants: Feasibility Awards and Protected or Conserved Area Creation Awards.
Feasibility Awards: Rainforest Trust provides Feasibility Awards to assess the potential for creating or expanding protected or conserved areas. These awards are intended to address specific information gaps in conservation projects, as precursors to applying for a Protected or Conserved Area Creation Award. For instance, Feasibility Awards can support developing a legal pathway to protect a proposed site, or field surveys to determine the presence and abundance of Critically Endangered or Endangered species. The average size of Feasibility Awards is $10,000; in exceptional situations, amounts of greater than $20,000 may be considered.
Protected or Conserved Area Creation Awards: Rainforest Trust’s primary awards support the creation and expansion of protected or conserved areas, on land or sea, be it through designation, land titling, purchase or any other recognized methodology (e.g. Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs)). The goal is to empower Project Implementers to facilitate new, lasting and sustainable protected or conserved areas that are in line with community and government needs and desires. There is no set maximum grant amount for these Awards, with applications assessed and awarded on an individual basis.
Eligibility
(Apply for Grants Offered By Rainforest Trust Protected or Conserved Area Creation Awards 2026)
Required criteria for all projects:
The primary objective must be the creation/expansion of a protected or conserved areas.
The proposed area(s) must be currently unprotected. Please use the World Database of Protected Areas to help determine if formal protection is already afforded (IUCN category 1-6)
The proposed protected or conserved area serves to:
- Protect globally significant populations of Critically Endangered and Endangered species (e.g. Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites); AND/OR
- Protect large areas of Tropical and Sub-tropical High Integrity Forests; AND/OR
- Protect Tropical and Sub-tropical habitat critical for mitigating global climate change (e.g. peat swamps, mangroves, páramo).
- The Project Implementer must be a legally registered non-government organization and authorized to conduct work in the country of the project.
- The project demonstrates support from relevant governments (including Indigenous governments) and Indigenous Peoples and/or Local Communities, and that relevant Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) has been or will be properly conducted.
- The protection mechanism, resulting in a change in legal status of the area during the course of the project, will mitigate critical threats to biodiversity and, where applicable, to carbon storage.
- A management system (management plan and committee) is, or will be, in place that ensures positive and sustained outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity.
- Resource extraction limits are, or will be, established to prevent unsustainable use.
Additional Required Criteria for Specific Project Types:
- Projects where Indigenous Peoples’ and/or Local Communities’ Land Tenure is the Primary Conservation Strategy
- Substantial management authority of the area will be led by the Indigenous Peoples or Local Communities.
- Land titles—or similar permanent land ownership or resource rights designations—and governance authority will be granted to the Indigenous Peoples and/or Local Communities with the customary right to the land in question; OR
- Lands and/or waters will be designated as a multiple-use territory with management (or co-management) by the Indigenous or Local Community.
- Projects where Land Purchase is the Primary Conservation Strategy
- Land is likely to be converted in the near future if purchase is not completed.
- An alternative protection strategy is not possible, more expensive, or significantly less effective.
- Conservation value is greater than expected based on the cost; OR
- Very high biodiversity value; OR
- Strategic value.
- Projects where Marine Protected Area Creation is the Primary Conservation Strategy
- Enabling conditions exist for Marine Protected Area (MPA) creation and effective management, including:
- Overlaps area of maximum biodiversity benefit from MPAs according to Sala et al. 2021; OR
- Stands out on other measures of biodiversity value; OR
- High carbon value.
How to apply?
Application Deadlines for Protected or Conserved Area Creation Awards of $250,000 and above are: March 1
We recommend submitting a concept note four months in advance of these deadlines.
Our application process is collaborative, and we work with applicants to ensure the necessary stages of successful protected or conserved area establishment are covered, e.g. subsequent area management, community engagement and long-term funding mechanisms. Our aim is to support the creation and expansion of areas that function for Species, Climate, and People, to be managed sustainably in perpetuity, with applications expected to demonstrate how this will be achieved.
Confirm eligibility to receive Rainforest Trust support.
Submit a Concept Note through our online form.
Submit an Application
Please feel free to contact us at projects@rainforesttrust.org if you have questions about partnering with us.
Get full access to the grant information, visit the Official Website Link
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