Conservation and Research Fund changes

The following important changes have been made to the operation of the Conservation and Research Fund which should be noted by all applicants.

From 1 January 2009, applications will be considered three times a year with the following deadlines for submission: 31 January, 31 May and 30 September. Applicants will be notified of the decision within 3 months of the deadline eg in April, August and December. Therefore please allow sufficient time between your application and the proposed timing of work.

All applications are considered by the Conservation and Research Fund sub-committee, currently Ramaz Gokhelashvili (Caucasus), Michael Brombacher (Central Asia), Richard Porter ( Middle East ), Rob Sheldon (Scientific Adviser) and Geoff Welch (Chair), with recommendations endorsed by OSME Council.

In order to support as many applications as possible, grants will be limited to a maximum of £500 but this will be reviewed on a regular basis depending on the success of fund raising activities.

Projects should be directed to one or more of the following subject areas:
i) investigating the status of threatened or near-threatened species
ii) attempting to further knowledge of existing Important Bird Areas (e.g. undertaking breeding censuses, visiting out-of-season to conduct systematic counts)
iii) investigating potential new Important Bird Areas or little-known areas
iv) conducting ecological studies of little-known species
v) educational projects.

Priority will be given to projects involving nationals from the region and applicants are required to write up the results of their project for possible publication in Sandgrouse.