Criteria
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Administrative Criteria
1) Who can apply?
Local NGOs and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) with a proven commitment to ecosystem conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
NOTE: Field-based NGOs are preferred. However, organizations based outside the proposed project area may apply but need to clearly state the terms and duration of their in-field project personnel, i.e., whether they will have project personnel present in the field for all or a substantial part of project term, scope of field work, et cetera. International NGOs cannot apply, but proposals submitted and implemented by local and regional offices of international NGOs can in exceptional cases be considered, PROVIDED THAT they are based on proven co-operation with truly local or national NGOs / CBOs and consist largely of activities benefiting these NGOs. Preferably, such proposals should be submitted by the local NGO itself .
2) FormatsTo be considered, both pre-proposals and proposals must be prepared and submitted according to the EGP formats.
3) Duration and completion
The current operational phase of the EGP ends in December 2010, therefore all projects should be completed before 31 August 2010.
NOTE: The entire selection and negotiation process may take as much as 6 months after submission of the pre-proposal.
4) Maximum and minimum grant amount
The EGP will provide maximum financial assistance of Euro 85,000 for a project (all phases included). There is no minimum.
5) Funding of different projects of the same organisation
An NGO can submit more than one project proposal for the same deadline. Only one can be funded, however, since EGP will never sign more than one contract with a grantee at the same time. A second project can only be funded after the first has been ended and all reports have been approved by EGP staff.
General Criteria
The following general criteria will be used to evaluate a project proposal's relevance and quality. Note that while all 5 criteria below will be used to evaluated proposals, only the first 4 criteria will be used to evaluate pre-proposals.
Each (pre-) proposal shall be evaluated as to whether and to what extent it:
1) Embraces and furthers the overall goal of the EGP (see Introduction).
2) Contributes to one or more of the following EGP objectives:
A. 'to mainstream ecosystem and biodiversity management in production environments, aimed at securing livelihoods of the rural poor'. This objective refers to the sustainable use of land and ecosystem resources, either inside or outside protected areas. Examples are projects that help to:
- make land and natural resource use more ecologically sustainable (for instance, offer alternatives to unsustainable land or resource use, such as projects that include agroforestry, sustainable fisheries or integrated coastal zone management);
- strengthen natural ecosystem elements in production landscapes (for instance, forest fragments or natural water bodies with valuable biodiversity);
- restore ecosystem services (for instance: restore the erosion control function of forests; enhance the regulation of water flows or control of floods by wetlands and/or forests; management of drought risks; carbon sequestration or emission reduction initiatives).
B. 'to strengthen ecosystem and biodiversity conservation for future generations'. This objective refers to the protection of ecosystems or biodiversity.
Examples are projects that help to:
- establish formal or community-based protected areas; or improve management of existing protected areas;
- protect threatened habitats or endangered species, both inside and outside protected areas;
- reduce man-made threats to natural ecosystems or biodiversity;
- generate measurable benefits of conservation initiatives for local communities.
C. 'to create an enabling environment at local, national and international levels for objectives A & B above'. Examples are projects that help to:
- strengthen and empower civil society organizations that link ecosystem management and poverty reduction (capacity building);
- aim at reforming policies and practices of national or local governments, the business sector or development organizations (including the introduction of policy incentives; removal of policy disincentives; and lobby and advocacy to support sustainable, and discourage unsustainable production and trade practices); Special attention will be given to projects that have the objective to make business operations (like fishery, soy, energy) more sustainable, preferably with links to the Dutch and/or European Union market. In the regional focal themes more information can be found on the specific business sectors;
- support certification processes of ecosystem products and services;
- strengthen the ecosystem dimension of land use planning and poverty reduction strategies (such as PRSP's - Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers);
- at national levels, improve the implementation of international environmental policy frameworks (for instance related to Millennium Development Goals or conventions such as CBD, CITES, UNCCD and Ramsar);
- improve governance in the environmental sector (for instance, exposure and control of illegal natural resource extraction, restore traditional governance structures, improved enforcement of ecologically and socially sound laws and policies);
- raise public awareness;
- strengthen formal biodiversity and ecosystem management education
- improve knowledge management and learning initiatives on relevant key issues.
3) Includes a sound social approach
This refers to:
A. participation of local stakeholders in project development, implementation and follow-up;4) Articulates the potential for meaningful long-term impacts
B. assessment of social impacts of the project (positive or negative) and how these will be managed, with special attention to gender and indigenous people aspects.
This may, for instance, refer to projects that:
A. replicate or expand successful pilot projects, or arrange strategic partnerships (for instance with local government, private sector, indigenous or farmers organizations or other NGOs).5) Offers quality and logical consistence
B. are embedded in, or linked to, a broader policy or programmatic framework, long-term plan or strategy.
C. are likely to raise follow-up funds or become sustainable by means of income generation.
NOTE: this criterion is applied less strictly than criteria 1, 2 and 3, but having a high score on this criterion certainly increases the chance of being approved for funding.
The following aspects refer to the logical consistence of project proposals:
A. sound problem and stakeholder analysis (the clear identification of the main problems, together with their causes and stakeholders, and further, which of these the proposed project seeks to address, target and/or solve).
B. how convincing are the strategy and activities proposed in the project with regard to addressing the problem.
C. how can progress towards achieving the desired results and objectives be measured (indicators, baselines).
NOTE: this criterion mainly applies to the proposal stage. In case a proposal scores high on other criteria (relevance), but low on quality or logical consistence, then the EGP staff may provide or offer assistance to improve the proposal.
Restrictions
The EGP cannot grant financial assistance to:
- Governmental or semi-governmental institutions, unless in projects with an NGO as leading partner.
- Commercial organisations (e.g. private enterprises, consultancy firms).
- Scientific research activities without direct relevance to the EGP goal and objectives.
- Purchase of land. Check the webpage of SPN for information on Purchase of Land
- Costs related to the participation in international training courses and conferences, unless it can be justified as a vital contribution to a project.
- Foreign (expatriate) consultants (priority must be given to local consultants).
