Darwin Initiative: Capability & Capacity Grants (£50,000 – £200,000 Funding)

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The Darwin Initiative is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Capability & Capacity Grants. Darwin Initiative Capability & Capacity grants must focus on developing the capability and capacity of identified local and national organisations (civil society, research institutes and public bodies) whilst clearly setting out how the recipients will be able to efficiently deliver effective and successful biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction impact.

Darwin Initiative Project Scope

All successful Darwin Initiative projects are likely to include:

delivering outputs that will achieve both biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction;
enhancing the capability and capacity of national and local partners and stakeholders, to help ensure a project’s long-term legacy;
strengthening, promotion and use of evidence to inform and scale the action;
the implementation of a novel or significantly improved approach;
scalable approaches that have the potential to deliver greater impact.

Darwin Initiative Funding Information

Darwin Initiative Capability & Capacity grants, ranging from £50,000 to £200,000.
Duration: Projects should last for between 1 to 2 years maximum, starting on or after 1 April 2025 (but before 30 September 2025), and complete by 31 March 2027.

Scoring Criteria

Technical, and Capability & Capacity
The capability and capacity building approach to be used must be formulated and justified with evidence (see 2.4) in the application. Activities can include structured training, fellowships, work placements, mentoring, organisational development, network-building, and can be undertaken across all areas of project activity: biodiversity, poverty reduction and project delivery.
Structured training elements must support locally based future and existing environmental leaders and staff of identified local/national organisations (reflecting an understanding GESI, see 0) to grow professionally and technically, ideally building lasting positive relationships between participants, and improving their ability to draw on professional and technical expertise relevant to delivering projects in line with Darwin Initiatives objectives.
Where strongly justified, activities can include very limited practical application of new skills and knowledge to embed them, but the grant must retain overall focus on how capability and capacity building will deliver future benefits for biodiversity and poverty reduction.

Eligibility Criteria for Darwin Initiative

Applications must be made by the Lead Organisation, not an individual, agreeing to the Terms and Conditions including managing the grant, its finances, reporting and governance. Foreign governments and their agencies cannot be Lead Organisations, though they can be a partner; UK government agencies can be Lead Organisations or partners.
Lead Organisations can be based anywhere, but they strongly encourage projects to have in-country Lead Organisations where possible.
The maximum annual value of funds requested should not exceed 25% of the Lead Organisation’s average annual turnover/income for the previous 3 years.
All projects are required to be led by or partner with local/national organisations of the country/ies in which it is based, with the meaningful and early engagement of in country stakeholders.
Darwin Initiative is entirely Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded, and therefore projects must promote the economic development and welfare of eligible countries as a primary objective.
Darwin Initiative is expected to be mostly focused on Low Income and Lower Middle-Income countries, and at least 70% of funding will be allocated to these countries, however Upper Middle-Income countries (UMICs) are eligible.
Projects applying to work in a UMIC must clearly demonstrate a stronger case for support; this includes operating in areas of high importance for biodiversity and a clear poverty reduction need. UMIC applications must clearly demonstrate that they will:
- advance knowledge, evidence and impact in Least Developed or Low-Income Countries, or
- contribute to a global public good, for example by advancing understanding and/or strengthening the knowledge base related to biodiversity conservation/sustainable use and poverty reduction, or
- contribute to serious and unique advancements on a critical issue as a result of specific circumstances of the upper-middle income country that could not be made elsewhere.