For IPBES Stakeholders: GBIF's BID programme- 2020 call for proposals from Sub-Saharan Africa

Dear colleagues,

GBIF is pleased to invite the submission of concept notes for project funding from sub-Saharan Africa through Biodiversity Information for Development (BID), a programme funded by the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Union. The call for proposals is also available in French, Portuguese and Spanish.

The BID programme aims to enhance capacity for effective mobilization and use of biodiversity data in support of decision- and policymaking for sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The total funding assigned to this call is approximately €600,000.

This call seeks to support projects from sub-Saharan Africa that:

• Mobilize biodiversity data relevant to decisions supporting sustainable development
• Use and extend best practices for digitizing natural history collections and mobilizing other biodiversity data
• Apply biodiversity data in support of decision-making and research
• Develop lasting national, regional or thematic networks to support ongoing data sharing and reuse

The call offers support for four grant types:

• Regional biodiversity data mobilization grants that establish or strengthen international collaborations to increase biodiversity data mobilization for research and policy addressing regional sustainable development needs
• National biodiversity data mobilization grants that establish or strengthen national biodiversity information facilities and increase biodiversity data mobilization to respond to national priorities
• Institution-level biodiversity data mobilization grants that mobilize biodiversity data relevant for sustainable development
• Data-use grants that build on existing relationships between biodiversity data-holding institutions and decision-makers to provide data solutions that respond to a specific policy need

These grants are open to institutions based in eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Concept notes must be submitted by 27 August 2020 through the GBIF Grant Portal. Following evaluation of the concept notes, GBIF will invite applicants successful in this round to submit a full proposal.

This call aims to build on the impact of BID’s first phase, in which 63 BID-funded projects mobilized 535 biodiversity datasets containing more than 1.3 million records relevant to the regions’ priority policy needs. The programme's rigorous training and e-learning curricula have also helped improve biodiversity data skills and establish regional communities of practice for hundreds of professionals across sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific.

If you have questions about the programme or call for proposals, please contact the team at [email protected].