Call for project proposals: Monitoring biodiversity and Ecosystem services in Protected areas (MEP): Research supporting Protected Area management — MEP01

L’appel est également disponible en français ici (PDF).

Context

The framework agreement between the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) aims to contribute through its CEBioS programme to a better knowledge of biodiversity and biodiversity policy and a better implementation of international environmental conventions in developing countries.

CEBioS’ MEP sub-programme aims to strengthen the capacities of Scientists, NGOs, National Agencies and Local Communities in the management of Protected Areas (PAs) as these areas are:

• critical habitats for local biodiversity

• essential for the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services that are important for local human well-being and development (food, medicines, fuel, etc.)

• central to carbon sequestration, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Protected areas are taken into a broad census and encompass important zones for conservation uses. All six IUCN categories are included, but also Important Bird Areas (IBA) and Endemic Bird Areas (EBA), Centres of Plant Diversity (CPD), Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCA), Sacred natural sites (SNS), Alliance for Zero Extinction Sites (AZE), Ramsar Sites, UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserves (MAB) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) among others. Research around Potential Protected Areas is also considered, as well as the application of IUCN Guidance in Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs, as defined by the Convention on Biodiversity in 2018).

This call for projects aims to support PAs management teams and their research partners to improve sustainable management in and around PAs, as well as human use of natural resources (ecosystem services) to conserve biodiversity. Ecological monitoring is key to contribute to conservation and management objectives (through existing or future management plans, for example). The supported activities in this call must be centered around data management/enhancement: data collection, data analysis, statistics, Geographic Information System, inventory data, but also socio-economic surveys (value chains, ecosystem services). Collaboration between researchers and PAs managers will help to improve conservation decisions and the capacities of the management team (i.e. eco-guards, local management committee, etc.). Building capacities and ownership of the conservation actions in and around PAs will be achieved through the scientists-managers cooperation. Products useful for management/conservation are an important part of the expected deliverables (short-term, while scientific papers are expected long-term) (e.g. lexicons, Simple management plan, Development plan, etc.). Activities focusing on Transboundary Protected Areas and corridors are also considered.

Eligibility

This call is open to the following countries: Benin – Burundi* – Burkina Faso – DR Congo – Guinea – Mali – Morocco – Mozambique – Niger –Palestinian Territory – Rwanda – Senegal– Tanzania – Uganda.

*Burundi can participate to this call, but the funding of the project will have to be discussed with OBPE and taken from their Institutional Cooperation with CEBioS. Activities within the NPs de la Rusizi and Kibira aren’t eligible.

Promotor and partners of the project:

The project should be submitted by a partnership between minimum two entities:

1) A national institute, research centre or public university able to collect, provide and analyse the needed data;

2) The structure in charge of the management of a Protected Area (a governmental institution, national implementation agency, NGO and/or indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs)), able to apply the data to the management of the Protected Area and the link with local communities (i.e. Buffer Zones and/or Community-based management).

Two persons should be designated -one in each institution- with only one being responsible for the budget, coordination, implementation and reporting of the project (the promotor).

Applications with involvement by women

Applications by women are strongly encouraged and are considered as an asset. CEBioS promotes the involvement of women in the scientific field and Protected Area management where women remain under-represented. Therefore, CEBioS emphasises the importance of reaching a female audience in the context of this call. By promoting increased participation of women in the selected projects, CEBioS aims to enrich research and management decisions through a diversity of perspectives and to promote greater inclusion in the conservation field. Particular attention will be paid to the selection of projects that actively include women, at different levels of involvement throughout the project.

Themes and activities

The focus of this call is the capacity strengthening of the Protected Area management team, the development and follow-up of standardised Biodiversity monitoring practice in and around PAs. Achieving these goals requires the participation of researchers for the valorisation of existing data, the collection of new data and the analysis of data and trends to ensure a better management of PAs or the development of new PAs (incl. corridors). Some capacity building of the management team by the researcher counterpart should be integrated into the project proposal (workshops and trainings). The nexus approach according to IPBES, which emphasizes the inter-relatedness and interdependencies of ecosystem components and human uses, and their dynamics and fluxes across spatial scales and between compartments, is promoted and must be reflected into the proposals. The human use of natural resources in terms of ecosystem services, the benefits provided by ecosystems to local communities and/or changes in ecosystem services caused by anthropogenic activities should also be considered.

Biodiversity monitoring consists of repeated observation of its components over the long term, to detect qualitative or quantitative changes at different levels of organisation (ecosystems, habitats, communities, populations, species, genes). As it is intended to be continuous, it is based on the periodic acquisition of standardised data or measurements of variables on a territorial scale. The projects should therefore contribute to improving or developing the monitoring methodologies and the assessment of biodiversity in Protected Areas. In this perspective, it is recommended that the project is based on existing data already containing a chronological aspect (e.g. time series, valorisation of historical data, etc.). If the collected data are partially or entirely new, good justification of their importance for the PA management is required.

Objectives

The objectives of the project can be multiple, but must necessarily be among the following:

• Mobilisation of existing data: mobilisation of existing biodiversity data within the Protected Area (which will enable identifying trends and changes).

• Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services monitoring and assessment: Improving monitoring methodologies and acquisition of good quality data, including the establishment of baselines and trends.

• Collaboration and capacity building: Regional and national (between PAs) cooperation, consultation and training of PA management Team and Local Communities and Indigenous People around PA.

Activities

The following types of activity are eligible:

• Valorisation and management of data, methodologies
o Syntheses and exploitation of data from master or PhD theses, inventories, reports, field logs, lab books, field notes and other sources of grey literature.
o Monitoring chronological evolution and developing a standardised methodology.
o Design, harmonisation and improvement of methodological tools for data collection, monitoring and analysis.
o Establishing a current baseline, based on the methodology developed hereabove.
o New data collection valuable for management (including inventories, satellites images, maps, surveys, ecosystem services assessments, etc.).
o Surveys on natural resources uses and perceptions of the PA by Local Communities and Indigenous People or their priorities for monitoring and data gathering.
o Workshops with local stakeholders (e.g. policy makers, NGOs, communities, etc.) to gather existing information sources, reflect on their perception, their own knowledge about the studied theme.
o Cartography and analyses of the Protected Area (multiple map layers, showing land-use evolution, species distributions, habitats and ecosystems, etc.).

• Creation and update of databases and digitisation of existing information
o Developing a database for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Monitoring of the PA. Adapting databases of another PA to local circumstances is also accepted.
o Digitisation of existing information and access to international databases (GBIF, etc.), or collaboration with the national or regional GBIF node to publish data online.
o Regular updating of the information in the databases to ensure effective monitoring.

• Institutional strengthening and Capacity building
o Training in the use of platforms such as GBIF and data management tools.
o Training in the use of monitoring tools such as Lexicons, Identification keys but also applications such as SMART or KOBO Collect, etc.
o Capacity building for institutions and people involved in biodiversity monitoring (Parataxonomy, Biodiversity, Transect, use of monitoring material, IUCN resources and tools, etc.).

Mandatory activities

• Publication on your national Biodiversity Clearing House Mechanism (CHM) of the key results of your project, in collaboration with your CHM focal point (see annex *** for contact details).

Activities which are not eligible:

• Training by an international tutor.

• Workshops, if their objectives are not directly related to the improvement of the monitoring of PAs.

• Publication and printing of documents other than brochures and flyers related to the implemented activities.

South-South cooperation (between 2 eligible countries) is eligible and possible under this call, and highly desirable in the case of TransBoundary Protected Areas (TBPA) and Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). In those cases, explanations on which activities will be implemented in which country are needed.

Proposals are to specify how their activities show interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, climate and health (nexus sensus IPBES).

Deliverables

The data will have to be exploited in two formats:

– one that is accessible to protected area managers and general stakeholders: technical documents (manuals, guides, lexica), management plans (Simple management plan, Development plan, Research Planning and Surveys, State of the Art, etc.). Power points, syntheses, graphs, videos, posters, are also valued.
– one that increases the benefits of research for researchers (scientific and/or popular scientific publications, State of the Art). The scientific publication can be done up to 3 years after the end of the projects, but a draft should be written before the end of the project period.

A copy of the paper needs to be sent to CEBioS as deliverable (draft version, peer reviewed version, etc.).

Scientific support and planned workshop

The persons in charge of the projects will be invited for a Training workshop (end of 2025) and a closing workshop (end of 2027), bringing together one person per project and the persons in charge of the follow-up of projects within CEBioS. These workshops will provide an opportunity to present and discuss the projects, exchange experiences, best practices, lessons learned and difficulties. The aim will be to strengthen the capacities of the implementing team of each project and to exchange between them to harmonise the projects methodologies and build a network of practitioners.

Type of support

The maximum amount funded by CEBioS is €10,000 per project.

The number of projects supported will depend on the type, size and quality of the projects submitted.

RBINS will finance the selected projects for up to 80% of their estimated costs. The remaining 20% will have to be provided by the local partner. This means, for example, that for a project totalling €12,500, the local partner will have to provide €2,500 (20%), and CEBioS will fund the remaining €10,000 (80%).

A project contract will be established between the RBINS and the promoter’s institute. The distribution of financing will be the following: 90% of the requested budget at the beginning of the project and 10% after the end of the project. This last payment will only be made after reception of justification of expenses (scanned receipts and supporting documents). The financial report must be handed in the latest on 15 December 2027. When exceeding the foreseen budget there won’t be reimbursement of the extra costs.

Possible eligible costs include communication (internet and phone call credits, etc.), the organisation of small workshops or capacity building activities, all costs related to local transport, local accommodation and, if necessary, small equipment up to 25% of the total budget (e.g. GPS, Measuring Tools, tents, power banks, USB key, hard drive, etc. Do not hesitate to contact us if in doubt). Collaboration or subcontracting with another local partner is possible. However, local consultancy fees and salaries are not eligible, unless duly justified in the project and limited to a maximum of 15% of the total budget. Subcontracting or consultancy contracts for essential tasks of the subsidised organisation, as well as those concluded with its own employees, are not eligible.

RBINS will pay for the participation of one project partner in the training and closing workshops. The cost related to this participation shouldn’t be part of the project proposal. The workshops will be held in one of the eligible countries in 2025 and end-2027 (date and place still to be determined).

After the completion of the projects, a call will be opened for communication and awareness projects to share the experience of the projects, for implementation in 2028-2029. More information on this call will be communicated during the closing workshop

Preparation of a proposal and submission instructions

Projects must be submitted to RBINS by 05 May 2025 at the latest by filling in submission form, which is available in English and French, to complete your project proposal. AND by sending a separate email at cebios-mep@naturalsciences.be containing two Excel files:

• budget (en or fr)

• timeline of activities (en or fr).

To prepare the budget you have to use the model for budget (budget template en or fr) and read carefully the Vademecum. The budget should be added in the proposal but also be sent as a separate Excel file. The various files can be found below.

Selection criteria

A selection committee will analyse the applications and make the final decision on the selection of projects, no later than four weeks after the project submission deadline.

The selection process takes place in two stages:

Stage 1: Verification of project eligibility. If a project does not meet the eligibility criteria, it will not be analysed further.

Stage 2: Assessment of content and budget using the scoring table below. Proposals will be ranked according to their final score and a final decision will be made. The selection committee retains the right to change the order of prioritisation established by the scoring table, provided that any change is justified.

Scoring table: Each criterion will be assessed on a scale of 0 to 5, then weighted according to an assigned coefficient.

Applicants associated with a scientific institute with which CEBioS has a privileged relationship (Institutional Cooperation or Memorandum Of Understanding) will be given priority. These institutes are:

• Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC, Bénin) ;
• Institut de Recherches Halieutiques et Océanologiques du Bénin (IRHOB) ;
• University of Parakou (Bénin) ;
• Centre de Surveillance de la Biodiversité (CSB, DR Congo) ;
• Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN, DR Congo).

Reporting

A report of activities, including all outputs, and a financial report must be submitted to RBINS at the end of the project (deadlines will be stipulated in the contract).

Scans of all original supporting documents and justification of expenses will be asked, in order to conform to the requirements of the Belgian Development Cooperation following the guidelines of the Vademecum. Any expenses that cannot be justified will not be considered and will have to be supported by the partner. All original justifications of expenses have to be kept by the partner for a duration of 10 years, in case CEBioS or DGD might need them for an audit.

Financial reports must be submitted using the financial report template.

Any report that does not follow the instructions will not be accepted.

Indicative dates for project implementation

03/03/2025: The call for MEP project proposals is launched

05/05/2025: Deadline for submission for MEP project proposals

15-30/05/2025: Jury Decision

Beginning of June 2025: Announcement of selection results

June 2025: Drawing up and signing contracts

July-August 2025: Payment of the first instalment (80%)

2nd semester of 2025 (date and place to be determined): Training Workshop

July 2025 – November 2027: Project implementation

15 December 2027: Activity report and financial report to be submitted

End 2027: Closing workshop (date and venue to be determined) and submission of awareness-raising follow-up projects

2028-2029 Implementation of selected follow-up awareness-raising projects

Contacts

The following persons will oversee the evaluation and follow-up of projects, with the support of experts:

• Dr. Tania D’haijère
• Ir. Thomas Wouters

To ensure that each of these people is kept informed at all times of the progress of the application, please use only the generic e-mail cebios-mep@naturalsciences.be.