Congratulations to the British Ecological Society on its
continuing efforts to strengthen the ecological base in Africa and Eastern
Europe. This year it has allocated
rather more than £200,000 in total to this cause. The following countries will benefit: Cameroon, East Africa
(Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), Gabon, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, The
Democratic Republic of Congo and The Czech Republic.
John A. Lee, President
- International
Association for Ecology (INTECOL) -
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Announcement from
The British Ecological Society (BES)
2006 Building
Capacity for Ecology Fund
http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/articles/grants/bcef
Background
The British
Ecological Society was the first national ecological society and has been an
invaluable resource for ecologists in Britain and worldwide since 1913.
In anticipation of its centenary, the BES will be supporting ecologists to
establish organisations that can promote the science of ecology in their
geographic area. The BES will do this through a new initiative called the
Building Capacity for Ecology Fund (BCEF), which has the backing of the
International Association of Ecology (Intecol). This new initiative will
help to create the organisations needed to promote the science of ecology
worldwide.
Objective
The Building
Capacity for Ecology Fund will assist in the establishment or
development of networks of ecologists that will allow ecologists in
countries that currently lack a well-developed society or ecology institute to
interact and gain from the experience and activities of colleagues.
Ultimately, we expect the interactions promoted by the Fund to lead to the
creation of new national or regional societies that will affiliate to Intecol.
Rationale
Ecological
societies provide the network within which ecologists can interact, exchange
ideas and influence each other. Ecological societies are also important
in promoting the science and its application with policymakers, natural
resource managers and the public. The lack of activities that a society
can provide is a major obstacle for the development and practice of ecology in
many regions.
Scope
The BES has
committed £500,000 over a five-year period to provide resources to build
capacity for ecological networks. Support will focus on building
effective ecological networks in Eastern Europe and Africa.
£201,847 of the
commited funds have already been allocated to 9 different regions who
applied and were awarded grants in the 2006 BCEF application round.
Regions being
funded in the first BCEF round are: Cameroon, East Africa (Kenya, Uganda
and Tanzania), Gabon, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, The Democratic
Republic of Congo and The Czech Republic. Click here for contact details.Contact
details are provided for lead applicants and individuals are encouraged to work
with these and existing societies as the BES will not fund applications for
competing Ecological Societies / Networks in the same region.
Projects
the Fund will support
In some countries,
ecologists have already created an organisation to represent them, but they
lack the resources to operate it effectively. In these cases, the BES
will consider making grants directly to the Society to pay for office
equipment, web activities and other communications and meetings. In some
countries, there may be a need for administrative support.
In countries or
regions where there is no existing organisation, the most effective use of the
funds may be to support meetings to allow ecologists to interact and begin to
build the network that will lead to the creation of an organisation.
In both cases,
grants will be for a fixed term. Proposals will need to demonstrate how
capacity-building activities will lead to a sustainable network of ecologists
that can promote the science in their country or region. Other proposals
that clearly promote the objective of the BCEF will be considered.
Please read the
Guidelines before filling out the Application Form and Budget.
Deadlines
1st Round: 21
April 2006
2nd Round: 15th of October 2007
Contact
information
Please contact the
Grants Officer with
any questions regarding the Building Capacity for Ecology Fund.
Related Information: