The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and SEMARNAT are offering this grant for building biodiversity conservation capacity in Mexico.

Program Goal: Build human and institutional capacity for biodiversity conservation and management in Mexico through training. Of interest are projects that provide direct and significant training to Mexican personnel in terms of the number of individuals trained, the strategic or innovative nature of the training, and the impact of the training on the conservation of biodiversity.

Program Objectives:
• To address the training needs of Mexican natural resources managers for managing and conserving biodiversity;
• To provide local communities access to training that links sound management practices in priority biodiversity areas with the creation of sustainable economic opportunities;
• To involve key stakeholder groups to address biodiversity conservation challenges to enable the delivery and implementation of effective conservation actions.

To be considered, projects must fall into at least one of the following three strategic categories (please indicate under which of these categories your proposal falls):

(1) Managing for Excellence: Training in biodiversity and natural resource conservation and management for Mexican Government personnel, including policy-makers, federal, state, and municipal-level resource managers, and reserve guards. This includes, but is not limited to, short-term (2-3 weeks) on-the-job courses certified by an educational institution (Diplomados), workshops, and exchanges of personnel.

(2) Stewards of the Land: Training in biodiversity and natural resources conservation and management for resource owners and/or direct users, including local communities, rural peasant farmer (campesino) organizations, and indigenous peoples. This includes training provided through on-the-ground practices, workshops, exchanges of personnel, and other delivery mechanisms appropriate to the training needs of these target groups.

(3) Voices for Nature: Training in environmental education and/or public outreach for targeted society stakeholder groups, including teachers, school children, journalists, tourists, legislators, non-governmental organizations, and private sector organizations or businesses. This includes, but is not limited to, workshops, educational programs, and production of educational and training materials.

Applicant organizations should be proposing work to be conducted in Mexico. If work is to be conducted in the United States, the proposal must show a clear connection to capacity building for biodiversity conservation in Mexico to be eligible for funding. To the extent that it provides clear, direct support for the program objectives above, proposed work may also relate to climate change adaptation, mitigation and education.

Please note that only one proposal per organization will be considered for funding.

Due to other grant programs supported by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, Wildlife Without Borders- Mexico WILL NOT FUND capacity building projects related to:

• Marine turtles (Marine Turtle Conservation Fund)
• Wetlands (North American Wetlands Conservation Act Fund)
• Neotropical Migratory Birds (Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Fund)

For information on how to apply for these other funding opportunities please go to http://www.fws.gov.