Guidance

Darwin Plus: environment funding for the UK Overseas Territories

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Part of: Darwin Initiative: funding schemes and how to apply, UK Overseas Territories, Biodiversity and ecosystems, and Wildlife and habitat conservation
• Published: 22 May 2014
• Last updated: 6 July 2016, see all updates

Darwin Plus: how to apply for project and fellowship funding

What funding is available

The Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund (also known as Darwin Plus) provides funding for:

• environmental projects in UK Overseas Territories
• fellowships for UK Overseas Territories (OT) Nationals to train in the UK

You will be able to apply for the Darwin Plus (Round 6) and Darwin Plus Fellowships (Round 6) funding from late July 2017. The deadline for applications under the previous Round 5 was 29 August 2016.

Who can apply

Darwin Plus projects

Funding is open to any organisation as long as the proposed project will benefit one or more of the UK OTs (listed below) by to protecting and enhancing their biodiversity or addressing wider environment or climate-related issues.

Applicants can include:

• OT governments
• non-governmental organisations
• research institutions
• the private sector
• other stakeholders

Darwin Plus Fellowships

The applicant organisation will usually be UK-based and the proposed Fellow must be an OT national who has worked or is working on environmental issues in the UK OTs.

The 14 UK Overseas Territories are:

• Anguilla
• Bermuda
• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• The British Virgin Islands
• The Cayman Islands
• The Falkland Islands
• Gibraltar
• Montserrat
• The Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie & Oeno Islands
• Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (including Gough Island Dependency)
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Sovereign Base Areas, Akrotiri and Dhekelia (on Cyprus)
• The Turks & Caicos Islands

Level of funding

There is no specific minimum or maximum level for a Darwin Plus project or Darwin Plus Fellowship.

How projects/fellowships are selected

The Darwin Plus Advisory Group (DPAG) is made up of policy experts from UK Government Departments and external experts who have experience or knowledge of running biodiversity and environmental projects in UK Overseas Territories. There is a pool of potential reviewers that can be drawn on from within UK Government Departments depending on the nature of the proposed project and the policy expertise required to assess it.

Each application is reviewed by at least three members of the Darwin Plus Advisory Group (DPAG). It is scored against the criteria set out in the guidance documents. OT governments are also given the opportunity to rate the potential projects against their environmental priorities, although this does not affect the application score. All applications will be reviewed to produce a prioritised list of Darwin Plus projects and fellowships recommended for funding. Defra ministers approve the final list.

Darwin Plus Advisory Group membership

Professor Stephen Blackmore (Chair)

UK Government policy advisers from:

• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
• Department for International Development (DFID)

Members of the Darwin Expert Committee with OT knowledge or experience:

• Mr Martin Brasher
• Mr Alistair Gammell
• Professor Brendan Godley

Other external advisers:

• Dr Colin Clubbe - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Mrs Tara Pelembe – Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
• Mrs Kedell Worboys, MBE – UK Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA)

Darwin Plus Contact details

For questions about Darwin Plus policy, contact the Darwin Secretariat at the Department for Food and Rural Affairs. Email: darwin@defra.gsi.gov.uk

For queries about Darwin Plus project applications, contact the applications team. Email: darwin-applications@ltsi.co.uk

For queries relating to new and existing projects, contact the project administrators. Email: darwin-projects@ltsi.co.uk

Telephone: Eilidh Young on 0131 440 5181

For queries about project finance, contact the finance section. Email: darwin-finance@ltsi.co.uk

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Case Study

Before completing the application form, you might like to take a look at a case study showing an example of a successful Darwin Plus project.

Document information

Published: 22 May 2014

Updated: 6 July 2016

+ full page history

1. 6 July 2016 Alerting the public that Round 5 of Darwin Plus is now open and inviting applications for Darwin Plus projects and Darwin Plus Fellowships.
2. 21 April 2016 Page updated to confirm that Darwin Plus Round 4 is now closed and Round 5 will be launched in Summer 2016
3. 24 September 2015 Confirming the closing date for this year's Darwin Plus applications and adding the list of Darwin Plus Advisory Group members.
4. 7 August 2015 The application period is now open for Round 4 of the Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund (also known as Darwin Plus).
5. 24 June 2015 The 2015 application window for Darwin Plus is not yet open. Previous applicants and interested parties will be alerted by e-mail. Please contact Darwin-applications@LTSI.co.uk to be added to the Darwin mailing list.
6. 6 August 2014 Please note that the 2014 application period for Darwin Plus projects is NOW CLOSED (from 4 August 2014).
7. 6 June 2014 updated guidance notes
8. 22 May 2014 First published.

From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Part of: Darwin Initiative: funding schemes and how to apply UK Overseas Territories Biodiversity and ecosystems Wildlife and habitat conservation

Related guides: Darwin Initiative: applying for main project funding Darwin Initiative: applying for post project funding Darwin Initiative: scoping projects Darwin Initiative: Fellowship Awards