Final BID call for proposals seeks projects from sub-Saharan Africa

GBIF invites concept notes for two-stage selection process under the EU-funded Biodiversity Information for Development programme.

Picasso bug (Sphaerocoris annulus). © 2013 Jeremy Roberts

Picasso bug (Sphaerocoris annulus). Used by permission © 2013 Jeremy Roberts.

GBIF invites the submission of concept notes for project funding from Africa under for the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme. The deadline for submissions is 9 April 2017, midnight CET / 2300 UTC/GMT.

The total potential funding assigned to this call is €400,000, and applicants successful in this round will receive invitations to submit full proposals in May 2017.

Read the complete calls for Africa in English, Frenchand Portuguese (coming soon)

This call, like those that preceded it, seeks projects that will:

  • Mobilize biodiversity data relating to protected areas, threatened species, and invasive alien species

  • Use and extend best practices for digitizing natural history collections and mobilizing other biodiversity data

  • Apply biodiversity data in support of decision-making and research

  • Develop lasting national, regional or thematic networks to support ongoing data sharing and reuse

Types of grants

In this call, GBIF invites proposals in two categories of grants.

  1. National biodiversity data mobilization grants that establish or strengthen national biodiversity information facilities and to increase the biodiversity data available about the country to respond to national priorities. Up to €40,000 will be made available per national grant.

  2. Small biodiversity data mobilization grants that mobilize biodiversity data relevant for biodiversity conservation priorities, with a maximum funding of €20,000.

Application process and timeline

A panel of international experts with experience in the region will evaluate applications through a competitive two-stage process.

  • Applicants must submit initial concept notes using by 9 April 2017.

  • Based on the panels’ recommendations, GBIF will invite a select group of applicants to prepare full proposals, expected to be due in July 2017.

  • Following the panel’s final review and selection, funded projects will start in October 2017. GBIF expects to announce these projects publicly by November 2017.

The concept note template and accompanying guidelines are available for both types of grant on the BID grantseekers’ site.

The first round of BID project funding provided nearly €1 million to 23 projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Recipients include 34 organizations from 20 African countries, whose projects earned selection from an initial pool of 143 initial proposals. Selected applicants to the recent calls for proposals from the Caribbean and Pacific have received invited to submit full proposals later this week (26 February).

Those interested in receiving updates on the BID programme can sign up for email alerts. General questions and inquiries may be sent to BID@gbif.org.


This programme is funded by the European Union.