Recent Grant Awards

2005

Bluff Cove Lagoon
£750 was awarded to Kevin Kilmartin at Bluff Cove for the provision of site information leaflets to provide visitors with wildlife information and tour guidelines. Bluff Cove Lagoon, like Sparrow Cove, is one of the shore excursions offered to cruise ship visitors coming to Stanley and as a result the number of visitors to the site has increased dramatically in recent years. Improved information will help protect the 750 pairs of Gentoo penguins breeding at this site.

The Falkland Islands hold a quarter of the world’s population of Gentoo Penguins

The Devil’s Nose, West Point Island
£750 awarded to Roddy and Lily Napier of West Point Island to improve visitor facilities at the Devil’s Nose black-browed albatross and rockhopper penguin colony. In the past only small expedition ships visited here but in recent years larger vessels have arrived. These have more passengers and higher passenger/guide ratios leading to concerns that the birds might be subjected to harmful levels of disturbance unless visitors were directed along designated access routes. The grant support enabled creation of a new viewing area and access track, together with signage.

West Point Island is one of thirteen sites where black-browed albatross breed in the Falkland Islands

Pilot Whale Study
£1,000 awarded to Helen Otley and Dr A Arkhipkin, in conjunction with Falkland Islands Fisheries Department, to enable a study of pilot whales stranded in the Falkland Islands and so gain a better understanding of their social structure, ageing, genetics and diet.

Over 200 pilot whales were stranded at Elephant Beach in 2004

Lorenzo Point
Up to £1,500 awarded to Michael and Jeanette Clarke for fencing to exclude stock from Lorenzo/Sand Point, East Falkland. Wind erosion has occurred behind the beach but grazing pressure has prevented sand grass, present elsewhere on the site, from stabilising the soil. Fencing will allow the sand grass and other important coastal vegetation to recover.

2004

Sparrow Cove Penguin Adventure
£650 was awarded to Adrian and Lisa Lowe of the Murrell Farm for the production of a leaflet and signs to guide visitors, particularly aimed at protection of the 1,600 Gentoo penguin colony at Kidney Cove. Cruise ship tourism has grown significantly in recent years and a number of sites now receive large numbers of visitors throughout the summer season. Over 2,500 cruise ship tourists visit this site each year. In order to ensure that they do not damage the very thing that they have come to see, careful management of sites is necessary and this leaflet provides a map with clear information and visitor guidelines.

Smylies Farm, East Falkland
£60 towards herbicide costs, plus provision of voluntary labour and other in kind assistance was awarded to Georgina and Andrew Smith at Port San Carlos to remove an area of European Gorse, an invasive plant which rapidly encroaches on to traditional farmland and native plant habitats unless controlled.

Barren Island
£1,725 was granted to Christopher and Lyndsay May of George & Barren Islands towards the costs of fencing tussac grass areas and re-planting areas on Barren Island. Fire and overgrazing in the past has led to the destruction of vegetation ground cover and subsequent soil erosion at several locations around the Falklands. The current extent of tussac grass, one of the most important wildlife habitats in the Islands, is only 20% of its former range. Fencing excludes stock and allows primary plant colonisers to stabilise soils and the tussac grass to recover.

Giant tussac grass is an important wildlife habitat in the Falkland Islands

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Guidelines for Applicants

Grants are only awarded to individuals or organisations based in the Falkland Islands. Applicants are limited to one grant in any calendar year. Grants will not normally exceed £1,000 though in exceptional circumstances larger grants may be approved.

Applications, which must be submitted on the official Grant Application, are considered annually in September. Applications must be submitted by 31st August. Decisions are at the discretion of Falklands Conservation Grants Committee and are final.

Grants are awarded for wildlife conservation projects in the Falkland Islands. These may be for practical work, for research or for educational projects.

Some examples of appropriate projects are given below:

• Restoration and/or protection of tussac grass through planting, management or protection
• Control or eradication of rats or cats to reduce predation on wild birds
• Control of invasive plants (eg calafate, gorse or thistles) where these are damaging native habitats
• Wildlife surveys, especially for nature reserve areas or areas of wildlife importance such as Important Bird Areas
• Provision of tourism information and/or guidelines on Falklands wildlife including signs or leaflets for wildlife sites
• Construction of bird hides for visitor use
• Measures to protect particularly sensitive wildlife sites or species where disturbance may be harmful
• Enhancement of wildlife and bird habitats such as construction of artificial islands in ponds and lakes for nesting birds

If you are in any doubt as to the eligibility of a project, please contact the Director, Falklands Conservation, for confidential advice.

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How to Apply

Complete the Falkland Islands Conservation Grants application form legibly in black ink with neat handwriting or using a typewriter / computer. A signed copy must be sent to the Director at Falklands Conservation, Stanley office. E-mailed copies with no signature are not acceptable.

Numbers in brackets refer to the appropriate section on the application form.

1. The applicant (1) is the main person responsible for undertaking the project. Please give contact phone numbers, address and email (if applicable). If the work is to take place on another person’s land, landowner’s permission (7) MUST be sought before the application is submitted.
2. In the short Project Description (10), a clear summary of the project should be provided in no more than 150 words.
3. People involved (11) should include all other parties who may be involved in carrying out the work or who may be affected by the project.
4. Reasons for doing the project (12) should include all benefits the work will bring specifically to wildlife or the environment.
5. Project Budget (13) should be the complete cost of undertaking the project, including materials, any paid time from people involved, use of equipment or machinery and provision of materials. If no exact costs are available, estimates should be given and be clearly marked as such. Explain what the costs are for, how much is being contributed by the project applicant, and what other monies are expected from other sources.
6. Amount requested from Conservation Grants Scheme (14) should be the grant sum you are specifically requesting from this application, excluding support and funding from other sources. Matching funding from the applicant or from other grant bodies is encouraged. The Conservation Grants Scheme will not normally provide more than 50% of the Project Budget (13), but this is at the discretion of the Falklands Conservation Grants Committee and will depend upon environmental benefit and the applicant’s means.
7. Long term benefits of the project (15) are those beyond the first year. What effects will the project have on the future of the land or the environment? How will this be monitored, if at all? How do you see the project continuing to provide a benefit into the future? What safeguards are there that the project benefits will continue in future years?
8. Other relevant information (16) may include: any other work that is taking place in the area that may be relevant to the project; any previous experience that may be relevant; future plans of the farm / site / property that are pertinent to the application; tourist figures to the site each year in the case of tourism based applications; number of participants to benefit from an educational project; anything else that may be useful in processing the application or that you think is relevant to the success of the project.

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Grant Application Form

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THIS FILE REQUIRES THE ADOBE ACROBAT READER 6 OR ABOVE

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