The Open Space Institute has announced the launch of the Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund and the inaugural Request for Proposals for the Fund. Eligible organizations are encouraged to submit proposals for capital grants through April 14, 2021.
To learn more, please register for the Applicant Webinar March 8,
from 1:00 pm – 3 pm.
The Fund, created with a seed grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, will support the purchase of land and conservation easements in key focus areas of the Appalachian Mountain region that facilitate wildlife adaption to climate change and forest carbon uptake. The Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund seeks to protect 50,000 acres in the focus areas, which contain some of the nation’s most at-risk, biologically rich, and climate-resilient landscapes that also store and sequester massive amounts of carbon.
The Fund, building on a growing movement to increase awareness and use of nature-based solutions to combat climate change, follows OSI’s Resilient Landscape Initiative, which advanced climate resilience through land protection, education and training efforts.
OSI is committed to advancing justice and equity in its grantmaking and in supporting organizations that identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color-led with reduced grant match requirements. According to OSI, “As we are learning alongside our grantees, we are also asking all applicants to reflect on equity and justice in their organizations and projects. While we are not evaluating proposals against responses to these questions in this initial round, we are interested in your insights as we determine how best to integrate equity into our programs and project evaluation in future grant rounds.”
To complement the capital grant efforts, OSI’s Catalyst Program will work in partnership with states, local communities, Tribes, and land trusts to integrate climate science in conservation plans and reduce climate risks for communities disproportionately affected by flooding and other climate-induced threats. The work will also support emerging efforts to utilize land protection and stewardship to achieve successful carbon storage. Available Catalyst Program resources will be announced in the coming months.
