IWT Challenge Fund

Application Deadline: July 10th 2018

Applications are now open for the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund (Round 5) which is a key part of the UK’s efforts. It is a competitive grant scheme, open to projects aiming to tackle the illegal wildlife trade in developing countries.

The UK government is committed to tackling the illegal wildlife trade. The Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund provides financial support to practical projects around the world which are:

• developing sustainable livelihoods and economic development, to benefit people directly affected by IWT
• strengthening law enforcement
• ensuring effective legal frameworks
• reducing demand for IWT products

Eligibility

• Applications must come from an organisation, and not an individual. Applicant organisations can be based in any country.
• One of the aims of the IWT Challenge Fund is to build capacity. It is therefore common for an organisation from a developed country to work with an organization from the eligible developing host country to jointly manage its implementation.
• Encourage joint management of the project through a formal agreement setting out the responsibilities of each partner in advance. Funding would be awarded to the lead organisation which would normally provide the named Project Leader, but on a day to day basis the project could be managed by two or more individuals. These arrangements should be described in the application form.
• They do not expect governments and their agencies to lead projects, though they may often be partners. The IWT Challenge Fund cannot be used as a substitute for activities that would normally be part of a government’s core functions (such as fulltime staff salaries or routine management activities).
• Organisations applying for funding must:
  • have a credible record of working on similar types of projects
  • have demonstrated experience managing projects of a similar size
  • nominate a Project Leader who will be responsible for the technical direction of the project and be the main point of contact
• There is no limit on the number of applications an organisation may submit, but they would encourage internal co-ordination to ensure all submissions are competitive.

• IWT Challenge Fund welcome a diverse range of applications to the Fund.
• There is no minimum or maximum award size. The overall funding pot in any given year is, however, limited. In previous rounds, awards have ranged from £50,000 to around £480,000 (with an average project award of around £300,000) for a 2-3 year project.
• Project budgets should preferably show an even spread over the funding period and should not as a general rule be front-loaded as this restricts the number of new projects that can be awarded in any year.
• The minimum length of a project is 1 year and the maximum length is 3 years. Any budget commitment must end by 31 March 2022.

• Application forms are available on GOV.UK, however all applications must be submitted online through the Flexi-Grant portal. There is separate guidance on how to use this portal.
• Applications will be administered independently by LTS International.
• Before you apply to the Fund, you should make sure that your project is eligible, and you are able to meet the fund’s requirements.
• In addition to reading this guidance, you should also read the Finance Guidance: Finance for Darwin/IWT and the full schedule of Terms and Conditions for the fund.
• All successful applicants must be able to meet all of the terms and conditions outlined in these documents

• Guidance for applicants to the scheme PDF, 317KB, 45 pages
• Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund 2018 Round 5 – Stage 1 application form MS Word Document, 145KB
• Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund 2018 Round 5 – Stage 2 application form MS Word Document, 245KB

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UK government Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund 2018