The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) Inc. is pleased to announce the 2012 Request for Proposals (RFP) for the SFI® Inc. Conservation Partnerships Grant Program, open February 1, 2012 – March 14, 2012. You can download the application here.
The SFI Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program supports collaborative projects between SFI program participants and non-profit organizations, along with other stakeholders, which support SFI objectives. Over the last two years, SFI awarded 24 grants for a total of just over $1.14 million. Further, these funds are leveraged with other project partner contributions, for a total of just over $4 million in investments in these projects.
Of the 24 projects which have received support from the SFI Grant Program since 2010, many were multi-year projects which are still ongoing; reducing the funding available for grants in 2012. As a result, there is $85,000 available for funding in 2012 for conservation projects and SFI will direct up to $35,000 for already identified community grants focusing on supporting young people's involvement in forestry and natural resources activities and careers.
In 2012, SFI's conservation grants focus centers around the theme of water resources. SFI has up to $85,000 to support conservation partnerships that illustrate or inform the role of the SFI standard in supporting water resources. Projects must illustrate the role of SFI Standard requirements in protecting water quality and quantity, such as building on the vast knowledge on the effectiveness of best management practices for water quality (BMPs) and how the SFI standard supports the implementation of BMPs.
In addition to the topic of water resources, SFI Inc. will accept exploratory research proposals on projects relating to the role of SFI certification in mitigating or adapting to climate change, in expectation that these exploratory projects will result in expanded projects in 2013, when additional funds will be available. However, applicants should note, water is the primary focus in 2012, and SFI Inc. is only accepting additional applications related to climate change in advance of an expected larger budget in 2013, in which this topic will be of interest to SFI. Preliminary research project funding requests should not exceed $10,000.
All submissions must follow the direction and format in this application.
In preparation for your submission, you may want to review the following documents:
The 2012 RFP Process will have the following schedule:
| Activity | Deliver By |
| SFI Inc. opens 2012 RFP | February 1, 2012 |
| All proposals due to SFI Inc. | 5 pm Eastern March 14, 2012 (no exceptions) |
| Applicants advised on decision | April 15, 2012 |
For more information, contact Allison Welde.
