Marine Turtle Conservation Fund | F18AS00038

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00038

The Marine Turtle Conservation Fund is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding opportunity under the Department of the Interior that supports on-the-ground conservation of marine turtles in countries outside the United States and its territories. It is authorized by the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004, which was created in response to widespread population declines and continuing threats to the long-term survival of marine turtles globally. The program is focused on tangible, practical conservation work that improves the outlook for marine turtle populations and protects the habitats they depend on, particularly nesting beaches and other key areas used across their life cycle.

This opportunity targets conservation actions benefiting six marine turtle species: green turtle (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii). Projects are expected to directly reduce threats in the turtles natural environment and to be designed in a way that produces lasting benefits rather than short-term outputs. In practice, that means proposals should clearly spell out what threats are being addressed (for example, impacts to nesting habitat, exploitation, bycatch, or other sources of mortality or disturbance) and how the proposed activities will measurably reduce those threats.

A key requirement is that proposals must go beyond general research interest and show a strong connection between activities and real management outcomes. If a project includes data collection, monitoring, or population status assessments, the application needs to explain exactly how those data will be used to guide or trigger specific management actions, and why missing information has previously prevented effective action. Proposals that cannot demonstrate how the work will reduce threats, or that treat data collection as an end in itself without a clear management pathway, are explicitly at risk of disqualification. The program is essentially looking for applied conservation: information is welcome when it is clearly tied to decisions and interventions, but projects must remain anchored in threat reduction and implementable solutions.

Geographically, funded work should take place within the natural range of the targeted marine turtle species and must be carried out outside the United States. If any activities are proposed outside the species range, the applicant has to justify their direct relevance to marine turtle conservation, showing a clear conservation payoff for the species or populations of concern.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as discretionary and can be funded through either grants or cooperative agreements. The assistance listing (CFDA) number is 15.645. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning a wide variety of applicant types can apply, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications that may appear in the full notice. For this specific posting (Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00038), the notice was created on November 22, 2017, with an original application closing date of January 22, 2018. The expected award ceiling is $80,000 per award, and the program anticipated making around 30 awards, indicating a preference for supporting a portfolio of projects across different regions and threat contexts rather than a single large initiative.

Overall, the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund is aimed at well-justified, action-oriented projects that protect nesting populations and habitats and directly confront key threats to marine turtles in foreign countries. Strong proposals are those that define a clear conservation problem, propose specific and feasible actions, and show how those actions will produce durable conservation gains, with any research or monitoring tightly linked to concrete management decisions.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the community development, education, environment, natural resources, regional development, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Marine Turtle Conservation Fund" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.645.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 22, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 22, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $80,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for F18AS00038

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