Weston Family Foundation: Northern Conservation Program

Sponsor

Weston Family Foundation

Description

The Weston Family Foundation is open to new and innovative ways to significantly advance conservation and stewardship in northern Canada.

The Northern Conservation Program aims to support projects that will deliver tangible, realistic results for biodiversity conservation, and demonstrate how ongoing stewardship of conserved lands will be accomplished. The Foundation recognizes that Indigenous communities are critical planners and stewards of northern ecosystems and, as such, we welcome and encourage projects that are Indigenous-led or Indigenous-partnered. 

The outcomes of the Northern Conservation Program are:

• Protect/Conserve: An increase in conserved northern land and ocean areas that are of high value for biodiversity or for resisting or adapting to climate change.
• Manage/Steward: An increase in northern land and ocean areas that are governed and stewarded with ecologically and culturally sustainable policies and practices that support nature conservation and the protection of biodiversity.

Successful projects will focus on:

• The establishment of land and ocean protected and conserved areas.
• Stewardship measures that maintain conservation of northern biodiversity in protected or conserved areas.

Projects must demonstrate that they take place in one or both of the “Areas of High Value for Biodiversity,” being:

• Areas of significantly high value for northern biodiversity; or
• Areas that are of high value for resisting or mitigating the impacts of climate change and/or providing options for wildlife and ecosystems to adapt to climate change.

Please refer to the Program Details for more information.

Eligibility

Applicants:

To be eligible for funding, projects must: 

• Be led by an Indigenous governmental institution or agency mandated to have an interest in terrestrial and/or ocean conservation by existing legislation (e.g., the Indian Act, other legislation, modern-day Treaties), or by an Indigenous community organization mandated by the community to pursue the conservation or stewardship project; or,
• Be led by an organization (which may include, but is not limited to, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry, academic institutions, etc.) that can demonstrate that all necessary inputs to, and participation in the project by, relevant Indigenous communities and institutions are in place and supported by a mutually agreed upon partnership arrangement between the Indigenous community and the organization (i.e., organizations should be prepared to provide letters of support from Indigenous community leadership).
• Include a Principal Applicant that is a qualified donee in accordance with the Canada Revenue Agency and Income Tax Act. Non-qualified donees may be listed as collaborators on the project. If the Principal Applicant is an organization in partnership with an Indigenous community, a letter will be required from the Indigenous community explaining its relationship to, and support of, the project.
• Fit within the program’s project and geographic criteria.
• Demonstrate a realistic potential of achieving the milestones, steps, or targets required to establish protected or conserved areas, or for stewarding bio-culturally important areas that improve conservation outcomes for wildlife (flora and fauna) and ecosystem biodiversity.
• Demonstrate that its location, proposed activities, and outcomes are based on the best available combination of Indigenous and scientific knowledge.

Geographic Criteria:

Projects must take place in northern Canada. The terrestrial geographic scope of Canada’s North for this program is anything north of the southernmost Boreal line as defined by Brandt (2009). 

The marine geographic scope of Canada’s North for this program includes the following marine bioregions: 

• Arctic Basin 
• Western Arctic
• Arctic Archipelago
• Eastern Arctic
• Hudson Bay Complex
• Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves

Please refer to the Program Details for additional information regarding project criteria.

Maximum Project Value

Funding available per project: A minimum of $450,000 to a maximum of $1,500,000 CAD.

Average grant sizes of $750,000.

Indirect Costs

10%

Project Duration

Up to three years.

How to Apply

Please refer to the LOI Template and Program Details attached.

Attachment(s)

Attachment	Size
NCP_LOI_FINAL-1.docx	98.49 KB
NCP-ProgramDetails-FINAL-1.pdf	516.54 KB