The Waterloo Foundation is pleased to announce the Tropical Rainforests Programme.
Under the Tropical Rainforests programme, preference will be given to initiatives working to protect tropical rainforests for their value to the climate, communities and biodiversity, principally through avoided deforestation.
Funding Information
The majority of the grants in this programme will be for a total of £50,000 – £100,000 spread over multiple years.
Local Projects
Applications for practical local projects that they will consider would typically be working on a specified tropical rainforest area, defined in hectares. They will generally only accept applications for the protection of areas larger than 10,000 hectares. Applicants will need to demonstrate how their project involves:
Exposing, addressing and overcoming the local drivers of deforestation
Management of the specified area
Methods to measure and monitor the protected area
Sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities
Securing land rights or management rights for forest-dependent communities
Strategic projects
They will consider applications for strategic projects that are working on addressing the drivers of deforestation on a wider or international scale. These could include:
Working on international or regional forest policy
Campaigning for improved practices in commerce
Innovative ways of reducing deforestation e.g. financial systems or solutions based on the value of forest ecosystem services
Strategic project applicants will have to provide the following information:
Evidence of previous successful strategic programmes e.g. an attributable change in policy or improved supply chain. They may ask to see a full copy of the supporting data and evaluation at a later stage;
For your proposed programme, the specific measurable outcomes that you expect the programme to achieve, and the methods you will use to monitor these outcomes;
The strategy put in place to ensure the sustainability of the programme’s objectives for the long term.
Eligibility Criteria
They prioritise providing funding support to UK-based charities, many of whom work in close partnership with smaller local NGOs based in the countries in which they operate.
Ineligibility Criteria
They are not able to offer funding for:
Tree planting projects
Projects focused solely on the use of fuel-efficient stoves
Projects with animal conservation as the sole focus
Research projects
Projects focusing on environmental education
They are currently not accepting proposals for REDD and carbon finance projects
Projects based in countries that are not secure and politically stable. They are therefore unlikely to support projects in conflict-affected areas such as within DRC and CAR.
