Call for Nominations: Whitley Award for Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation
Deadline: 30-Oct-2026
The Whitley Awards provide £50,000 in project funding to grassroots conservation leaders who are delivering proven, science-based solutions for threatened ecosystems and biodiversity. The awards prioritize locally led conservation projects that demonstrate measurable impact at the landscape or seascape level while improving outcomes for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
What Are the Whitley Awards?
The Whitley Awards are conservation awards designed to recognize and strengthen the work of experienced grassroots conservation leaders.
The program focuses on leaders who are:
- Based within the communities where they work.
- Nationals of the country where their conservation project is located.
- Working through a locally incorporated organization or eligible university.
- Already demonstrating successful conservation results.
- Scaling up an established conservation approach rather than starting a new pilot.
The awards are intended to help proven conservation solutions reach a larger scale and produce greater environmental and community benefits.
Why the Whitley Awards Matter
Threatened ecosystems often face interconnected pressures involving biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, climate change, unsustainable resource use, and socioeconomic challenges.
The Whitley Awards recognize conservation approaches that address these challenges while involving the people who depend on affected landscapes and ecosystems.
Projects should therefore demonstrate benefits for both:
- Nature and biodiversity, and
- Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
This makes community participation and locally led conservation central to the program.
What the Whitley Awards Support
The awards support the scaling up of proven conservation solutions.
Projects should have already demonstrated positive results and should now be ready to expand their impact.
Potential areas may include:
- Wildlife conservation
- Biodiversity protection
- Threatened ecosystems
- Landscape conservation
- Seascape conservation
- Habitat protection
- Community-based conservation
- Indigenous-led conservation
- Science-based conservation
- Sustainable management of natural resources
- Protection of threatened species and ecosystems
The proposed work should demonstrate measurable environmental outcomes rather than simply describing a conservation challenge.
Grant Amount and Project Period
Each successful Whitley Award provides:
- Grant amount: £50,000
- Project start: June 2027 or shortly thereafter
- Project duration: 12 months
Applicants should develop a realistic 12-month implementation plan showing how the award will contribute to scaling an established conservation approach.
Who Is Eligible?
Applicants must meet both individual and organizational requirements.
Eligible applicants must:
- Be a national of the country where the project is based.
- Work for a locally incorporated NGO, charity, not-for-profit organization, or university.
- Have a demonstrated track record of success in wildlife conservation.
- Be directly involved in the conservation work.
- Be working on a project in an eligible country.
Projects generally need to be located in countries that are not classified as High Income Economies by the World Bank, subject to the Whitley Fund for Nature’s applicable country eligibility rules and exceptions.
Applicants should check the current country list provided by the Whitley Fund for Nature before applying.
What Makes a Strong Whitley Award Project?
A strong project should demonstrate that the conservation approach is already working.
The proposal should show:
- Evidence of previous conservation success.
- Measurable biodiversity or ecosystem benefits.
- A clear pathway to scaling up the existing solution.
- Strong local leadership.
- Meaningful community involvement.
- Benefits for Indigenous Peoples and/or local communities.
- A landscape- or seascape-level conservation perspective.
- A science-based methodology.
- Clear and achievable objectives.
- A realistic 12-month implementation plan.
The key distinction is that the Whitley Awards are intended primarily for scaling proven conservation solutions, not for testing an entirely new idea.
Projects That Are Not Eligible
Several types of applicants and projects are excluded.
Expatriate Applicants
Applicants must be nationals of the country where the project is based. Expatriate conservation leaders are generally not eligible.
Pure Academic Research
Projects that primarily consist of academic research are not eligible.
This includes proposals focused mainly on:
- MSc fieldwork
- PhD fieldwork
- Pure academic research
Research can support a conservation project, but the proposal must demonstrate practical conservation impact.
Start-Up and Pilot Projects
The Whitley Awards are not designed primarily to fund projects that are just beginning.
Applicants should demonstrate an existing track record and evidence that the proposed conservation approach has already produced results.
One-Person Operations
One-person operations and absentee leadership arrangements are generally ineligible.
The program favors locally embedded conservation leaders working through established organizations and teams.
Joint Applications
Joint applications are not eligible under the stated criteria.
Other Excluded Project Types
Projects focused solely on the following areas are generally not eligible:
- Rural development
- Economic development
- Land purchase
- Animal welfare
- Captive breeding
Captive breeding may only be considered where the project addresses the underlying causes of species decline, rather than simply maintaining animals in captivity.
Are Government Employees Eligible?
Government employees are generally not eligible to apply.
However, certain exceptions may apply, including individuals affiliated with government-funded universities.
Applicants with government affiliations should carefully check the specific eligibility rules before preparing an application.
How to Prepare a Whitley Award Application
Step 1: Confirm Country Eligibility
Check whether the country where the project will take place meets the Whitley Fund for Nature’s current eligibility requirements.
Step 2: Confirm Your Nationality
The applicant should be a national of the country where the conservation project is being implemented.
Step 3: Demonstrate Conservation Experience
Document your previous wildlife conservation achievements.
Use evidence such as:
- Conservation outcomes.
- Biodiversity improvements.
- Species protection results.
- Community conservation achievements.
- Landscape or seascape conservation results.
- Monitoring data.
- Previous project achievements.
Step 4: Show That the Solution Is Proven
Clearly distinguish your proposed project from a pilot.
Explain:
- What conservation approach you have already implemented.
- What results it has produced.
- Why those results demonstrate that the approach works.
- How the Whitley Award will help expand it.
Step 5: Explain Community Benefits
Describe how the project benefits local communities and Indigenous Peoples.
Where appropriate, explain their participation in:
- Project design.
- Decision-making.
- Conservation activities.
- Natural resource management.
- Monitoring.
- Governance.
- Benefit sharing.
Step 6: Develop a 12-Month Plan
Break the project into realistic activities and milestones.
The plan should demonstrate how £50,000 will contribute to measurable conservation results within the award period.
Step 7: Establish Measurable Outcomes
Avoid vague objectives such as “raise awareness” without measurable indicators.
Instead, define specific outcomes related to:
- Ecosystem protection.
- Biodiversity.
- Threatened species.
- Habitat restoration or protection.
- Community participation.
- Conservation governance.
- Sustainable resource management.
Tips for a Strong Application
Applicants should focus on evidence, impact, local leadership, and scalability.
- Demonstrate previous conservation success.
- Provide measurable evidence wherever possible.
- Explain why the existing approach should be scaled.
- Show that the project is locally led.
- Demonstrate meaningful community participation.
- Explain benefits to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- Connect conservation activities to landscape or seascape outcomes.
- Use science and monitoring to support your approach.
- Keep the 12-month workplan realistic.
- Clearly connect the budget to conservation outcomes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Applicants should avoid:
- Proposing a completely new pilot project.
- Presenting the proposal primarily as academic research.
- Applying for MSc or PhD fieldwork.
- Failing to demonstrate previous conservation success.
- Applying as an expatriate.
- Proposing only rural or economic development activities.
- Focusing solely on animal welfare.
- Requesting funding primarily for land purchase.
- Proposing captive breeding without addressing the causes of species decline.
- Failing to demonstrate benefits for local communities.
- Providing conservation objectives without measurable indicators.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Whitley Awards?
The Whitley Awards are conservation awards that provide funding to grassroots conservation leaders implementing proven solutions to protect threatened ecosystems and biodiversity while delivering benefits to local communities.
How much funding does each Whitley Award provide?
Each winning project receives £50,000 in funding.
How long is a Whitley Award project?
Projects must be completed within 12 months and are expected to begin in or shortly after June 2027.
Who can apply for a Whitley Award?
Applicants must generally be nationals of the country where their project is based and work for a locally incorporated NGO, charity, not-for-profit organization, or eligible university. They must also have a demonstrated track record in wildlife conservation.
Can a new conservation project apply?
Generally, no. The Whitley Awards prioritize proven conservation approaches that are ready to be scaled up rather than start-up or pilot projects.
Can MSc or PhD research receive Whitley Award funding?
Pure academic research and MSc or PhD fieldwork are not eligible. The program is intended to support practical conservation impact.
What types of conservation projects are prioritized?
Projects should address threatened ecosystems or biodiversity and demonstrate measurable conservation impact at the landscape or seascape level, while also providing tangible benefits to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Conclusion
The Whitley Awards offer £50,000 to locally led conservation leaders who can demonstrate that their science-based approach is already delivering results and is ready to expand. The strongest applications will combine proven conservation impact, measurable biodiversity outcomes, grassroots leadership, community participation, and landscape- or seascape-level change, rather than proposing purely academic research or new pilot projects.
For more information, visit WFN.
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