• US Natural Climate Solutions Accelerator Grant Program is now accepting pre-proposals for awards up to 200K
• Update from the Australian Land Conservation Network (ALCA) on the Australian Bushfires
• Call for Proposals: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Netherlands Land Purchase Program
• Satoyama Initiative publishes case studies about balancing competing values for productive environments
• ELCN and Eurosite integrate to form "Eurosite- the European Land Conservation Network"
• Upcoming Events

US Natural Climate Solutions Accelerator Grant Program is Now Accepting Pre-Proposals for Awards up to 200K
By the US Natural Climate Solutions Accelerator Team


Photo courtesy of US Natural Climate Solutions Accelerator Team

Got a smart project that uses nature to mitigate climate change in the United States? Then you’re in luck. Through the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Nature Conservancy is announcing a request for proposals for the third round of grant funding for projects with the potential to substantially increase the use of natural climate solutions through the U.S. Natural Climate Solutions Accelerator program.

This grant funding program is focused on helping kick-start innovative and scalable approaches to capturing greenhouse gas emissions by using natural and working lands in the United States.The program’s steering committee approved the first five grants in the fall of 2018, and the second five grants in the fall of 2019. Awards up to $200K per project are available in this third round of grant making.

Visit nature.org/NCSaccelerator to learn more about this opportunity, former awardees, how to apply, and to register for the applicant webinar. The deadline for pre-proposals is March 13, 2020.

Update from the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA) on the Australian Bushfires
By Victoria Marles, Australian Land Conservation Alliance

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

As most of you will know, many parts of Eastern Australia have been seriously affected by fires over the last couple of months.  The Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA) has been very involved in national discussions about the effect of the fires on threatened species, the extent of the loss and the steps and resources that are needed to restore and recover habitat. The Federal Government is considering the nature and size of its investment to deal with the scale of the problem. ALCA, representing the private land conservation trusts, has participated in three roundtable meetings with the Federal Minister. 
    
From an organizational perspective ALCA is continuing to gain strength. We had a face to face meeting in Sydney on Friday 31 January to decide on our policies priorities for this year. These include CBD 2020, bushfire response and recovery and review of our national biodiversity conservation protection act. The meeting also set a framework for this year’s private land conservation conference. The conference will be held 13 – 15 October in Sydney. We anticipate that we will continue to host a conservation finance workshop ahead of the conference. We aim to build on the successful attendance we had at last year’s conference where around 400 people from across Australia attended.

Call for Proposals: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Netherlands Land Purchase Program

IUCN NL has published the call for proposals for the IUCN NL Small grants for the Purchase of Nature (SPN), which can be found here. This program funds local NGOs with land acquisition projects that protect threatened species, protect areas of high biodiversity, or preserve landscape connectivity. The deadline for application is May 1, 2020.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the IUCN NL Land Purchase Program, IUCN NL is also producing a report on all the projects that this program has impacted over the past 20 years. That report will be published at the IUCN World Conservation Congress on June 15th.
 

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Satoyama Initiative Publishes Case Studies About Balancing Competing Values for Productive Environments

The Satoyama Initiative is dedicated to supporting communities in utilizing their ecological resources in a sustainable way. They have recently published the 5th Volume of the Satoyama Initiative Thematic Review. This report highlights case studies from around the globe where organizations have successfully navigated competing cultural, economic, and ecological demands on environment.

Read the report here.
 

Photo courtesy
of the Satoyama Initiative

ELCN and Eurosite Integrate to form "Eurosite- the European Land Conservation Network"
By Tilmann Disselhoff, ELCN

At its 30th Anniversary on 5th November 2019 in Monticiano, Italy, Eurosite’s general assembly voted unanimously to change the organisation’s name to “Eurosite – the European Land Conservation Network” and to amend its mission accordingly, thereby laying the groundwork for a formal integration of the ELCN into Eurosite.

The merger of the two networks is a logical continuation of the close cooperation between Eurosite and the ELCN over the last years. It will enable an even better exchange of knowledge and ideas among the European land conservation community.

With the merger, the ongoing LIFE project to set up a European Land Conservation Network (LIFE ELCN) has reached an important strategic objective. LIFE ELCN is currently coordinated by NABU, the German Birdlife partner. The coordinator of LIFE ELCN, Dr. Tilmann Disselhoff, was voted to become a board member of Eurosite, ensuring a smooth transition of the ELCN to the Eurosite secretariat in the next months.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada will host a two-day conference on 4 and 5 June in Toronto for professionals from the Conservation, Philanthropy, Corporate, Government, Banking, Investment Management,and Insurance sectors as well as others seeking to develop blended finance solutions for conservation. Through expert panels with national and international conservation leaders, the event, “Making Nature Investable: Financing Nature-Based Solutions in Canada for a Changing World” will develop a shared understanding of the key issues related to scaling up conservation finance in Canada.

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