USAID opens grants for eco projects

CEBU, Philippines — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is calling for grant applications to civil society groups for Investing in Sustainability and Partnerships for Inclusive Growth and Regenerative Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Project.

The USAID has announced Sunday the opening of the second grant cycle of the said project.

It is a five-year grant facility that supports various environmental efforts by civil society groups in the Philippines.

The grants can support local climate mitigation and actions, biodiversity conservation, anti-wildlife trafficking and anti-poaching, and natural resource management.

Application is open to all civil society organizations in the Philippines.

For the Visayas region, interested parties may join the regional roadshow here in Cebu City on October 19 and 20, 2022. Exact venue has not been disclosed yet at the moment.

They can register online via  https://bit.ly/INSPIRE2Vis for the Visayas region.

The said road show is only limited to 100 participants and all interested individuals or groups are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

The regional roadshows will give the applicants a better understanding of the solicitation and assist site-based applicants to explore project ideas and craft concept applications according to INSPIRE’s guidelines as explained by the Gerry Roxas Foundation.

Topics to be discussed include the open standards for the practice of conservation (Situational Model and Theory of Change), high conservation value areas (HCVA), natural climate solutions (NCS), ecosystems approach to fisheries management (EAFM), and behavioral change communications (BCC). The formulation of SM and TOC will be a hands-on workshop accordingly.

Opportunities for working with USAID will also be part of the discussions.

Attendance in these regional roadshows, however, is not a prerequisite in the processing of applications.

The presentations during the roadshow will be live-streamed on the GRF Facebook Page.

Applicants working in the same bioregions or with the same biodiversity focus are highly encouraged to work as a consortium.

On a case-to-case basis, INSPIRE may also cover the transportation and accommodation of the participants especially if they are coming from people's organizations or indigenous peoples' organizations.

Organizations can participate in only one regional roadshow and can send a maximum of two representatives.

For more details about the grant, they can visit the Gerry Roxas Foundation website or Facebook page. — GMR (FREEMAN)