Post submitted by Sara Barker, Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative Program Leader. You can direct questions to her at sb65@cornell.edu
The Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative (LTBCI) is pleased to announce the 2021 Land Trust Grant Program, which will award around $300,000 to as many as 16 projects. We anticipate these projects will have far-reaching benefits by protecting our natural ecosystems through management and restoration, supporting land protection efforts by building land trust capacity, assisting with land acquisition in some of our country's most precious and sensitive landscapes, and helping to curb massive bird declines by conserving private lands.
The RFP will remain open through March 1, 2021 with funds dispersed at the end of May. To learn more and apply for a grant, visit evaluation criteria, grant expectations, and example activities on the LTBCI website.
Pick the category that works best for your land trust:
Capacity and Partnership Projects (up to 6 grants of $5,000 each) must build land trust capacity by teaching or demonstrating how birds can enhance strategic planning and mission fulfillment of land trusts and/or facilitate mutually beneficial collaborations and partnerships with the bird conservation community. Applicants must be a land trust in the U.S.
Management and Restoration Projects (7 grants of $25,000 each) should actively manage, restore, and/or steward land in a way that enhances habitat and promotes bird conservation. Special emphasis on priority species or those identified in State Wildlife Action Plans is desired. Applicants should be an accredited land trust or work with one as a partner.
California Land Acquisition Grants (up to 3 grants of $50,000 each) will support the purchase of land or conservation easements in California that have closed in 2020 or will close in 2021. Applicants must be accredited land trusts in California to apply. Funds will support direct acquisition costs only and applicants must clearly demonstrate the land’s importance to birds and/or bird conservation.
