Donor Name: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
U.S. Territories: Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/31/2022
Size of the Grant: $75,000 – $200,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The purpose of the Caribbean Partners for Conservation awards will be to leverage NRCS and partner resources on proposals that address the following goals:
- Increase implementation of conservation practices that promote the four Soil Health Principles (Disturbing Soil Less, Diversify Soil Biota, Keep Living Roots and Keep the Soil Covered)
- Increase the implementation of conservation practices that aid in adapting to and mitigating against increasing extreme weather events and promoting drought resiliency measures.
- Increase support and implementation of urban farming and conservation in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
- Facilitate the development of entrepreneurial projects by providing needed resources, such as job training, land, equipment, mentoring, and other business development assistance to new and beginning farmers.
- Increase food production and conservation in small urban and indoor spaces with emerging technologies.
- Operate community gardens or nonprofit farms to educate a community on food systems, nutrition, environmental impacts, and agricultural production and/or to offer hands‐on training in farming or gardening.
- Meet specific state, local, or community food and agricultural needs by assisting municipalities, food producers, community organizations, and schools with policies for community gardens and farms that address food access, soil health, emerging technologies, and agricultural business.
- Increase productivity of grasslands and improve animal husbandry.
- Provide habitat for local wildlife species of concern as listed in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands State Wildlife Action Plans.
Priority will be placed on projects that:
- Provide support to both Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands field offices and/or clients. Any outreach products and educational material created in the agreement will have an English and Spanish version.
- Provide support to Landscape Planning efforts (watershed or landscape level) that reduce sediment and nutrient loading through technical assistance, Farm Bill program promotion/outreach, innovative conservation approaches, evaluation of conservation outcomes, and/or implementation of demonstration farms.
- Provide technical capacity to conduct conservation planning, on‐site (field) practice certifications, and/or monitoring practice outcomes and follow up with producers on the establishment of conservation practices. All proposals that include conservation planning assistance must specifically include:
- Which steps of the NRCS 9‐step conservation planning process are included in the project proposal.
- Who will have responsibility for completing each step and a description of the training and certifications of the staff performing the conservation planning work.
- Details in the project methodology on how each step will be executed
- Build tools and technical capacity of NRCS and conservation partners’ field employees.
- Build the capacity of local watershed/conservation groups to develop, design, and implement effective conservation projects.
- Conduct surveys and assemble cost data on materials and components for conservation practices and scenarios (electronic Field Office Technical Guide) that will serve NRCS to include cost analysis in the conservation plans.
Funding Information
- The estimated funding floor for this opportunity is $75,000.00, and the estimated funding ceiling is $200,000.00.
Grant Period
- Projects may be between 1 and 3 years in duration.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
