Following the December 1 awards ceremony for the first four Forest and Development Fund grants, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is preparing for more potential grantees.
Through the Strengthening Competitiveness, Agriculture, Livelihoods, and Environment – Natural Resource Management (SCALE-NRM) project, the second set of Forest and Development Fund grants are under development. The SCALE-NRM project successfully completed another round of Pre-Application Conferences throughout the four regions of Malaita.
The four Pre-Application Conferences were conducted at Auki, Atori, Malu’u and Afio for over 100 community-based organizations that were selected from the second round of Expression of Interests for the Forest and Development Fund.
The Pre-Application Conferences provided detailed instructions to the organizations on project proposal development that meets the Fund’s requirements.
Forest and Development Fund is an initiative under USAID’s SCALE-NRM project, which is being implemented by Winrock Solomon Islands.
Forest and Development Fund aims to support community-led initiatives that advance sustainable natural resources management and community-led initiatives that promote alternative livelihoods to logging.
Participants expressed gratitude not only with the support provided to help them develop project proposals but more so, for the knowledge imparted on proposal development, which they say will help their organizations in future applications for support from aid donors.
On March 24, SCALE-NRM made its first call for Expression of Interests for associations, institutions and community groups, to submit initial applications for the Forest and Development Fund grants. Successful applicants from the first call are now in the process of formalizing and receiving grants. For this second call, organizations are expected to submit their detailed application proposals by December 23rd, 2022.
USAID’s SCALE-NRM is designed to address the underlying causes of forest degradation in Solomon Islands. The program will implement a range of activities to improve forest governance and ensure sustainable forest management. The project is being implemented over a five-year period, from October 2020 to September 2025. The SCALE project operates in Malaita province due to a specific request from the central government of Solomon Islands to address unmet development priorities in the largest province. SCALE-NRM is a partnership between USAID and Winrock International.
