July 2010 intake round is now open
Deadline for submission is September 1, 2010
The Small Cat Action Fund (SCAF) is a grants program established by Panthera, in cooperation with Conservation International, with the oversight of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group. The fund is intended to support in situ conservation and research activities on the small cat species. Awards are made for one year but may be extended to subsequent years, contingent upon performance and results. The SCAF is open to any qualified individuals and institutions. Preference will be given to projects with a strong conservation emphasis.
Species and Location
The SCAF supports applications on the “small cats,” namely all species of the family Felidae excluding the genera Panthera, Uncia, Neofelis, Acinonyx, and the puma (Puma concolor); see Panthera’s Research and Conservation Grants Program for projects concerned with these species. The following species are eligible for SCAF:
Caracal - Caracal caracal
Bay cat - Catopuma badia
Asian golden cat - Catopuma temminckii
Jungle cat - Felis chaus
Sand cat - Felis margarita
Black-footed cat - Felis nigripes
Wild cat - Felis silvestris
Jaguarundi - Herpailurus yaguarondi
Ocelot - Leopardus pardalis
Little spotted cat - Leopardus tigrinus
Margay - Leopardus wiedii
Serval - Leptailurus serval
Canada lynx - Lynx canadensis
Eurasian lynx - Lynx lynx
Spanish lynx - Lynx pardinus
Bobcat - Lynx rufus
Pampas cat - Oncifelis colocolo
Geoffroy’s cat - Oncifelis geoffroyi
Kodkod - Oncifelis guigna
Andean mountain cat - Oreailurus jacobita
Pallas’s cat - Otocolobus manul
Leopard cat - Prionailurus bengalensis
Flat-headed cat - Prionailurus planiceps
Rusty-spotted cat - Prionailurus rubiginosus
Fishing cat - Prionailurus viverrinus
African golden cat - Profelis aurata
Marbled cat - Pardofelis marmorata
Projects working on felid communities where the proposed work includes any of the 8 largest cat species should apply to the Research and Conservation Grants. If the project does not explicitly include those species (even if they occur in the area), the application should be made to the Small Cat Action Fund.
Budget Items
Budgets range up to $10,000 per annum. Emphasis will be given to requests for field conservation and research activities, including equipment, transportation, and local salaries.
Panthera does not support:
- Conferences
- Travel to scientific meetings
- Legal actions
- Overhead costs
- Captive breeding
Panthera will consider local salaries, per diems and stipends for local field personnel only. We will not fund salaries for core administrative and management personnel. Support for graduate studies (tuition, bursaries, college living costs etc) will not be considered by the SCAF; see the Kaplan Graduate Awards for more information.
* All awards are granted for one year, funding for subsequent years is NOT guaranteed. Multi-year projects are encouraged but funding for subsequent years will be determined based on the progress and results of Year 1 activities.
Genetic Analysis
In partnership with the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Panthera has developed the Global Felid Conservation Genetics Program. The program focuses on the molecular ecology of endangered felid populations and promotes, when preferable, the use of noninvasive sampling to understand genetic issues relevant to felid conservation. For details on the program, please visit http://www.panthera.org/felid_genetics.html.
Applicants may apply to Panthera for genetic analysis funding, however, the applicant must agree to process all genetic analysis through the AMNH.
Please note that we will ONLY undertake genetic analysis for projects that include the following ‘priority species’: tiger, lion, jaguar, snow leopard, cheetah and clouded leopard. For survey efforts, we are able to identify other felids in your samples (so please send all your samples to AMNH), but your project must include these priority species. Please note, if your project does not involve our priority species, you can still apply for fieldwork that includes genetic analysis of other species. In this case, we will consider funding the fieldwork (for example, to undertake surveys, collect scat samples, etc.), but you will need to secure separate funding for the analysis itself outside the AMNH. In such a case, we ask that you provide the resulting genetic data to be archived at the AMNH under the normal terms of the data-sharing conditions we require in making grants.
Evaluation Criteria
The SCAF resides within, and is managed by Panthera. Proposals are reviewed by members of each contributing institution as well as the joint chairs of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group. Projects are evaluated on:
- Relevance to wild cat conservation
- Scientific merit & value
How to Apply
The Panthera Grants Committee meets twice a year to make funding decisions, with closing dates for proposals on March 1st and September 1st. Final decisions and awards are announced 4 months after the application deadline. Proposal intake opens on January 1st and July 1st of each year, and closes on the respective due dates. Panthera’s grant programs are facilitated through an online grant management system, Foundant. All applications for Panthera grants must be submitted through Foundant. Applicants are only permitted to apply to one Panthera grant program per intake round.
If you are seeking renewal for a previous grant, please contact us directly.
To work offline, please download the application instructions and the following templates:
Project Overview
Timetable Template
Project Budget Template
Please note that these templates represent only a portion of the application. In order to be considered for funding, please submit a complete online application using the Click Here to Apply button.
Contact
Justine Faye Oller
Assistant Program Manager
Panthera
8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Email: grants@panthera.org
www.panthera.org
