Overview

Applications for the 2024 Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) Team Awards are now open!

The deadline for submitting a full proposal is 31 October.

The Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) is a globally renowned capacity building partnership that is building the next generation of conservation leaders in developing countries. CLP partners include WCS, BirdLife International, and Fauna & Flora. We work collaboratively to identify and engage exceptional young conservationists, invest in their professional development through grants, internships, training and mentoring, and help them to multiply their impact across the conservation sector. CLP grants are awarded annually to teams of early career individuals to carry out projects on threatened species. A series of training, networking, and mentoring is offered to our alumni network as a means to further develop leadership capabilities.

About the CLP Team Awards

Each year, CLP calls for applications to support projects in low- and middle-income countries and some high-income islands in the Caribbean and Pacific. Funding is awarded to teams of early-career conservationists to conduct scientific research, encourage and promote pro-conservation attitudes and deliver tangible results to better conserve and manage the natural world.

There are three grant levels to allow teams to scale up their initial projects. Starting with a Future Conservationist Award, teams are supported to undertake small-scale research and awareness-raising projects. Through Follow-up awards, teams can implement larger projects over a longer period of time and deliver practical solutions to conservation issues whilst learning to command more complex decision-making, communication and leadership skills.

Each year we receive a high number of applications for our Team Awards, making it a highly competitive process. Below we provide data on how many applications we received in previous years and how many of these went on to be selected for an award.

CLP provides Conservation Team Awards on an annual basis to support the work of early-career conservationists.

(1)Future Conservationist Awards(for early-career conservationists)

Future Conservationist Awards are only eligible to those who have not previously been funded by CLP.

These awards offer a grant of up to $15,000 to teams of early-career conservationists (i.e., team members have less than five years of professional conservation experience) working on high-priority projects on protecting species listed as Data Deficient, Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Projects must take place in an eligible country, be led (or co-led) by a national of one of these countries, involve at least three people and last between three to 12 months. The deadline for submitting a full proposal is 31 October.

Applications must be submitted via the online application portal. Please see the detailed guidelines and checklist below, and our Frequently Asked Questions, to help you with your application.

1. CLP Future Conservationist Award_Guidelines
2. 2023 Team Awards Checklist_Future Conservationist Awards

Please note: Future Conservationist Award applicants can request help preparing their project proposal from one of our Alumni Reviewers. More information can be found here.

To see previous projects that have been granted Future Conservationist Awards, please browse our Supported Projects pages.

(2)Follow-Up Awards(for previous recipients of a CLP Future Conservationist Award)

The Conservation Follow-up Award is available to CLP project teams that have previously received a Future Conservationist Award.

These awards offer a grant of up to $25,000 and are available to teams addressing a conservation issue raised by recommendations in a project previously supported by CLP. Projects should be focused on direct conservation outputs, for example lobbying, awareness raising, education, training and monitoring.

As with the Future Conservationist Award, results and data from Conservation Follow-Up projects should inform national action plans and international priority setting.

The deadline for submitting a full proposal is 31 October.

Applications must be submitted via the online application portal. Please see the detailed guidelines and checklist below, and our Frequently Asked Questions, to help you with your application.

1. CLP Continuation Award_Guidelines_2023
2. 2023 Team Awards Checklist_Continuation Awards

Applications for Follow-up Awards will only be considered once a full final report, financial report and evaluation form have been submitted for the initial Future Conservationist Award project.

Please note: Follow-Up Award applicants can request help preparing their project proposal from one of our Alumni Reviewers. More information can be found here.

As with the Future Conservationist Award, results and data from Conservation Follow-Up projects should inform national action plans and international priority setting.

To see previous projects that have been granted Conservation Follow-up Awards, please browse our Supported Projects pages.

(4) The Kate Stokes Memorial Award

The Kate Stokes Memorial Award is an additional grant set up in the memory of Kate Stokes. This award is offered annually to an exceptional team of CLP alumni.

On 19 February 2006, Kate Stokes and her partner died tragically while climbing in the Picos de Europa mountain range in Spain. Kate worked as Programme Officer for CLP from 2002 to 2006. She was instrumental in developing the programme and helping thousands of young conservationists gain experience in practical conservation.

In Kate’s memory, her family, friends and colleagues established the Kate Stokes Memorial Trust. Through this trust, an additional $5,000 grant is awarded on an annual basis to an exceptional team that has previously received CLP funding. There is particular emphasis on teams that demonstrate strong passion, enthusiasm and a long-term commitment to conservation.

Please note: if you would like help with your application, you can contact one of our Alumni Reviewers. These are previous recipients of a CLP Award who have volunteered to review your project proposal and provide feedback before the application deadline (10 October). Applicants must send their proposal for review up to two weeks before the deadline to give our Alumni Reviewers sufficient time to provide feedback. Further guidelines, and biographies and contact details of our Reviewers, can be found in our website.

 

Professional Development, Mentoring and Networking

In addition to awarding project funding, CLP invites one member of each award-winning team to our annual international training course. Here, they learn about a range of conservation management and leadership topics as well as build a network with other early-career conservationists. Our training course helps awardees deliver their CLP projects and has also been credited for furthering participants’ career progression. It is a rewarding and life-changing experience!

As part of the award, winning teams are able to access expertise from within each of our three conservation partner organisations and via our global Alumni Network, which includes past award-winners. Programme staff members are also available to advise on project implementation, including guidance required during the planning and team training stages.