The Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) Grants Programme is an initiative by the United Kingdom’s Blue Planet Fund (BPF), which is jointly managed by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The programme is offering up to £500 million to support their mission: to aid locally-led organisations and communities to participate in fair and inclusive decision-making processes, sustainably manage marine environments and develop local solutions to benefit people and nature.
Community-led initiatives have the biggest potential to make a significant impact, yet there has been insufficient funding for projects aiming to improve ocean health locally. The OCEAN Grants Programme provides financial support to projects aiming to deliver long-term, positive impact to the marine environment and local stakeholders, especially coastal communities.
The grant directly contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water, through funding sustainable, impactful solutions of marine environments on a larger scale. Supporting goal 14 is critical in order to achieve the global climate change objectives as set out via the Sustainable Development Goals, though SDG 14 only receive d 0.01% of all SDG funding in 2019, indicating the goal is too often overlooked.
Partnership Grants
OCEAN encourages medium to large organisations with a proven track record of implementations of impactful projects to apply for the grant. The size of the grant is £250,000 to £3 million, supporting projects for a maximum length of five years. The proposals will be reviewed via a two-stage application process: stage one being the online application and stage two an interview with the OCEAN Expert Committee.
Community Grants
Small to medium sized in-country organisations operating on a local, regional or national scale are invited to apply for the Community Grant. Support will be given through targeted application workshops, the OCEAN Helpdesk’s assistance and Webinars. This grant has a size of max. £250,000, supporting projects for a maximum length of five years. The two-stage application process for Community Grants contains a Concept Note at stage one, followed by a full application invitation at stage two.
To apply and for more information, please click the link below.
In short
Who: Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) via the UK’s Blue Planet Fund
Size: £150,000 to £3,000,000 for Partnership Grants, up to £250,000 for Community Grants
Launch: February 2024
Deadline: not available yet
For questions about this article, please contact:
Ekaterina Kalashnikova, Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies
ekaterina.kalashnikova@bcssmz.org
Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies
Host of the first permanent Ocean Observatory focused on multi-ecosystem time series research in Africa, the Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS) was established in 2017 as in independent, non-profit organisation with a mission to protect and support the fragile ecosystems of the Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique. The research station is located on Benguerra Island, off the coast of Mozambique.
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