Application form for

Darwin Initiative Innovation Project

Round 30
This Word version of the application form is for drafting purposes only, and has been
developed to help applicants collaborate on their applications. Word limits must be
respected and will be strictly enforced in Flexi-Grant. Please ensure you check all
content when transferring across.

Please consider all personal information you are sharing with your application and
remove if not necessary - this includes content of additional materials submitted in
support of your application, such as CVs.

NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED ON THIS FORM WILL BE DEEMED

INELIGIBLE. SUBMISSION MUST BE VIA FLEXI-GRANT – ltsi.flexigrant.com

Submit on Flexi-Grant by 23:59 GMT Monday 23rd October 2023

Please read the guidance available on the Darwin Initiative website before completing
this form.
Q1. Lead applicant Lead Applicant:
contact details
Notification of results will
be to the lead applicant.
Please also add contact
Project Leader (if different):
details for the Project
Leader if this is different
from the lead applicant.

Q2. Lead Partner

contact details
Q3. Title (Max 10 words)
Q4a. Is this a resubmission of a previously unsuccessful Yes/No
application?
If yes, please include a response to any previous feedback in
your cover letter.
Q4b. Year, stage and previous application number if known.
Q5. Key Ecosystems, Approaches and Threats
Please select up to 3 biomes that are of focus, up to 3 conservation actions that
characterise your approach, and up to 3 threats to biodiversity you intend to address,
from dropdown lists.

Q6. Summary of project

Please provide a brief non-technical summary of your project: the problem/need it is
trying to address, its aims, and the key activities you plan on undertaking. Please note
that if you are successful, this wording may be used by Defra in communications e.g.
as a short description of the project on the website.

(Max 80 words)

Q7. Country(ies)
Which eligible country(ies) will your project be working in? You may add more rows if
you need to provide details of more than four countries.
Country 1: Country 2:

Country 3: Country 4:

Q8. Project dates

Start date: End date: Duration (e.g. 1 year, 8
months):

Q9. Budget summary

Darwin Initiative 2024/25 2025/26 Total request
funding request £ £ £
(Apr – Mar)
Q10. Please ensure you clearly outline your matched funding arrangement in
the budget. If none is proposed, please explain why?
(Max 150 words)
Q11. If you have a significant amount of unconfirmed matched funding, please
clarify how you will fund the project if you don’t manage to secure this?
(Max 100 words)

Q12. Have you received, applied for or plan to apply for any other UK Yes/No
Government funding for the proposed project or similar? If yes,
please give details (100 words):

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Q13. Problem the project is trying to address
Please describe the problem your project is trying to address in terms of biodiversity
and its relationship with multi-dimensional poverty.

For example, what are the causes of biodiversity loss, preventing conservation, and/or
keeping people in multi-dimensional poverty that the project will attempt to address?
Why are they relevant, for whom? How did you identify the need for your project?
Please cite the evidence you are using to support your assessment of the problem
(references can be listed in your additional attached PDF document).

(Max 500 words)

Q14. Biodiversity Conventions, Treaties and Agreements

Q14a. Your project must support the commitments of one or more of the
agreements listed below. Please indicate which agreement(s) will be supported.
Note: projects supporting more than one will not achieve a higher score.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Yes/No
Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Yes/No
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Yes/No
Agriculture (ITPGRFA)
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Yes/No
(CITES)
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Yes/No
Animals (CMS)
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar) Yes/No
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Yes/No
(UNFCCC)
Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs) Yes/No

Q14b. National and International Policy Alignment

Using evidence where available, please detail how your project will contribute to
national policy (including NBSAPs, NDCs, NAPs etc.) and in turn international
biodiversity and development conventions, treaties and agreements that the country is
a signatory of.

(Max 300 words)

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Q15. Methodology
Describe the methods and approach you will use to achieve your intended Outcome
and contribute towards your Impact. Provide information on:
 how you have reflected on and incorporated evidence and lessons learnt from
past and present similar activities and projects in the design of this project.
 the specific approach you are using, supported by evidence that it will be
effective, and justifying why you expect it will be successful in this context.
 how you will undertake the work (activities, materials and methods).
 what the main activities will be and where these will take place.
 how you will manage the work (governance, roles and responsibilities, project
management tools, risks etc.).

(Max 500 words)

Q16. Innovation
Please specifically outline how your approach or project is innovative.

Is it the application of a proven approach in a distinctly different

geography/issue/stakeholder (novel to the area), or in a different sector (novel to the
sector), or an unproven approach in any sector (novel to the world)?

(Max 250 words)

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Q17. Capability and Capacity
How will the project support the strengthening of capability and capacity of identified
local and national partners, and stakeholders during its lifetime at organisational or
individual levels? Please provide details of what form this will take, who will benefit
(noting any Gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) considerations), and the post-
project value to the country.

(Max 300 words)

Q18. Gender equality and social inclusion

All applicants must consider whether and how their project will contribute to promoting
equality between persons of different gender and social characteristics. Explain your
understanding of how individuals may be excluded from equal participation within the
context of your project, and how you seek to address this. You should consider how
your project will proactively contribute to ensuring individuals achieve equitable
outcomes and how you will engage participants in a meaningful way.

(Max 300 words)

Q19. Change expected

Detail the expected changes to both biodiversity and multi-dimensional poverty
reduction, and links between them, that this work will deliver. You should identify what
will change and who exactly will benefit a) in the short-term (i.e. during the lifetime of
the project) and b) in the long-term (after the project has ended).

When talking about how people will benefit, please remember to give details of who will
benefit, differences in benefits by gender or other layers of diversity within
stakeholders, and the number of beneficiaries expected. The number of communities is
insufficient detail – number of households should be the largest unit used.

(Max 500 words)

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Q20. Pathway to change
Please outline your project’s expected pathway to change. This should be an overview
of the overall project logic and outline why and how you expect your Outputs to
contribute towards your overall Outcome and, in the longer term, your expected Impact.

This should directly relate to your overall project’s Theory of Change which must be
uploaded alongside your application in Flexi-Grant. See the separate Monitoring,
Evaluation and Learning Guidance for further information on your Theory of Change.

(Max 200 words)

Q21. Sustainable benefits and scaling potential

Q21a. How will the project reach a point where benefits can be sustained post-
funding? How will the required knowledge and skills remain available to sustain the
benefits? How will you ensure your data and evidence will be accessible to others?

(Max 150 words)

Q21b. If your approach works, what potential is there for scaling the approach further?
Refer to Scalable Approaches (Landscape, Replication, System Change, Capacitation)
in the guidance. What might prevent scaling, and how could this be addressed?

(Max 150 words)

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Q22. Risk Management
Please outline the 6 key risks to achievement of your Project Outcome and how these
risks will be managed and mitigated, referring to the Risk Guidance. This should
include at least one Fiduciary, one Safeguarding, and one Delivery Chain Risk.

Projects should also draft their initial risk register using the template provided, and be
prepared to submit this when requested if they are recommended for funding. Do not
attach this to your application.

Residual Risk
Probability1

Risk Description Gross Risk Mitigation

Impact

Fiduciary (financial): funds not used for intended purposes or not accounted for (fraud,
corruption, mishandling or misappropriated).

[50 words] [50 words]

Safeguarding: ‘doing harm’ incl. sexual exploitation abuse and harassment, safety and
welfare, or unintended harm to beneficiaries, the public, implementing partners, and staff.

[50 words] [50 words]

Delivery Chain: the overall risk associated with your delivery model.

[50 words] [50 words]

Risk 4

[50 words] [50 words]

Risk 5

[50 words] [50 words]

Risk 6

[50 words] [50 words]

Q23. Project sensitivities

Please indicate whether there are sensitivities associated with this project that need to
be considered if details are published (detailed species location data that would
increase threats, political sensitivities, prosecutions for illegal activities, security of staff
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Likelihood: Almost certain (>80%), Likely (>50%<80%), Possible (>20%<50%), Unlikely (>5%<20%),
Rare (<5%)

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etc.). Please note your response to this question won’t influence the outcome of your
application.

Yes/No

If yes, please provide brief details

(Max 100 words)

Q24. Workplan
Provide a project workplan that shows the key milestones in project activities. Complete
the Word template to show the intended workplan for your project ready for upload on
Flexi-Grant.

Please add/remove columns to reflect the length of your project. For each activity
(add/remove rows as appropriate) indicate the number of months it will last, and
fill/shade only the quarters in which an activity will be carried out.

Q25. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E)

Describe how the progress of the project will be monitored and evaluated, making
reference to who is responsible for the project’s M&E.

Darwin Initiative projects are expected to be adaptive and you should detail how the
monitoring and evaluation will feed into the delivery of the project including its
management. M&E is expected to be built into the project and not an ‘add on’. It is as
important to measure for negative impacts as it is for positive impact. Additionally,
please indicate an approximate budget and level of effort (person days) to be spent on
M&E (see Finance Guidance).
(Max 500 words)

Total project budget for M&E (this may £ and %

include Staff and Travel and Subsistence
Costs)
Number of days planned for M&E

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Q26. Logical Framework (logframe)
Darwin Initiative projects will be required to monitor and report against their progress
towards their Outputs and Outcome. This section sets out the expected Outputs and
Outcome of your project, how you expect to measure progress against these and how we
can verify this.
See the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Guidance for advice on completing a logical
framework.
The logframe template needs to be downloaded from Flexi-Grant, completed and
uploaded as a PDF within your Flexi-Grant application – please do not edit the logframe
template structure (other than adding additional Outputs if needed) as this may
make your application ineligible. On the application form, you will be asked to copy the
Impact, Outcome and Output statements and activities - these should be the same as in
your uploaded logframe.

Q27. Budget
Please complete the appropriate Excel spreadsheet (available on Flexi-Grant), which
provides the Budget for this application. Some of the questions earlier and below refer to
the information in this spreadsheet.

Note that there are different templates for projects requesting under £100,000 and over
£100,000. Please refer to the Finance Guidance for more information.

Please ensure you include any matched funding figures in the Budget spreadsheet to
clarify the full budget required to deliver this project.

NB: Please state all costs by financial year (1 April to 31 March) and in GBP. The
Darwin Initiative cannot agree any increase in grants once awarded.

Please upload the Lead Partner’s accounts (or other financial evidence – see Finance
Guidance) at the certification page at the end of the application form.

Please note the next section is about the financial aspects of your project, rather
than technical elements.

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Q28. Alignment with other funding and activities
This question aims to help us understand how familiar you are with other work in the
geographic/thematic area, and how this proposed project will build on or align with this to
avoid any risks of duplicating or conflicting activities.

Q28a. Is this new work or does it build on existing/past activities (delivered by anyone and
funded through any source)? Please give details.
(Max 200 words):

Q28b. Are you aware of any current or future plans for work in the geographic/thematic
area to the proposed project? Yes/No
If yes, please give details explaining similarities and differences, and explaining how your
work will be additional, avoiding duplicating and conflicting activities and what attempts
have been/will be made to co-operate with and share lessons learnt for mutual benefit.
(Max 200 words)

Q29. Value for Money

Please demonstrate why your project is good value for money in terms of impact and cost-
effectiveness of each pound spend (economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity). Why is
it the best feasible project for the amount of money to be spent? Please make sure you
read the guidance documents, before answering this question.
(Max 250 words)

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Q30. Capital items
If you plan to purchase capital items with Darwin funding, please indicate what you
anticipate will happen to the items following project end. If you are requesting more than
10% capital costs, please provide your justification here.
(Max 150 words)

Q31. Safeguarding
All projects funded under the Biodiversity Challenge Funds must ensure proactive action is
taken to promote the welfare and protect all individuals involved in the project (staff,
implementing partners, the public and beneficiaries) from harm. In order to provide
assurance of this, projects are required to have specific procedures and policies in place.

Please upload the following required policies:

 Safeguarding Policy: including a statement of commitment to safeguarding and a zero

tolerance statement on bullying, harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse.
 Whistleblowing Policy: which details a clear process for dealing with concerns raised
and protects whistle blowers from reprisals.
 Code of Conduct: which sets out clear expectations of behaviours – inside and
outside the workplace – for all involved in the project and makes clear what will happen
in the event of non-compliance or breach of these standards, including compliance with
IASC 6 Principles.

If any of these policies are integrated into a broader policy document or handbook, please
upload just the relevant or equivalent sub-sections to the above policies, with (unofficial)
English translations where needed.

Please outline how (a) beneficiaries, the public, implementing partners, and staff are made
aware of your safeguarding commitment and how to confidentially raise a concern, (b)
safeguarding issues are investigated, recorded and what disciplinary procedures are in
place when allegations and complaints are upheld, (c) you will ensure project partners
uphold these policies.

If your approach is currently limited or in the early stages of development, please clearly
set out your plans address this.

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 (Max 200 words)

Q32. Ethics
Outline your approach to meeting the key principles of good ethical practice, as
outlined in the guidance.

(Max 200 words)

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Q33. British embassy or high commission engagement
It is important for UK Government representatives to understand if UK funding might be
spent in the project country/ies. Please indicate if you have contacted the relevant British
embassy or high commission to discuss the project and attach details of any advice you
have received from them.

Yes (please attach evidence of request or No

advice if received)

If no, why not? (Max 50 words)

Q34. Project staff

Please identify the core staff (identified in the budget), their role and what % of their
time they will be working on the project. Please provide 1-page CVs or job description,
further information on who is considered core staff can be found in the Finance Guidance.
Please include up to 12 rows if necessary.
Name (First name, Role % time on 1 page CV
surname) project or job
description
attached?*
Project Leader Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
*If you cannot provide a CV or job description, please explain why not.

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Q35. Project Partners
Please list all the Project Partners (including the Lead Partner who will administer the grant
and coordinate delivery of the project), clearly setting out their roles and responsibilities in
the project including the extent of their engagement so far.

This section should demonstrate the capability and capacity of the Project Partners to
successfully deliver the project. Please provide Letters of Support for all project
partners or explain why this has not been included. The order of the letters must be
the same as the order they are presented in below.

Please copy/delete boxes for more or fewer partnerships.

Lead Partner name:

Website address:

Why is this organisation (Max 300 words)

the Lead Partner, and what
value to they bring to the
project? (including roles,
responsibilities and
capabilities and capacity):

International/In-country International/In-country
Partner

Allocated budget: (proportion or value)

Representation on the Yes/No

Project Board (or other
management structure)

Have you included a Letter Yes/No

of Support from the Lead
Partner? If no, please provide details (Max 50 words)

Partner Name:

Website address:

What value does this (Max 200 words)

Partner bring to the project?
(including roles,

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responsibilities and
capabilities and capacity):

International/In-country International/In-country
Partner

Allocated budget: (proportion or value)

Representation on the Yes/No

Project Board (or other
management structure)

Have you included a Letter Yes/No

of Support from this
partner? If no, please provide details (Max 50 words)

Partner Name:

Website address:

What value does this (Max 200 words)

Partner bring to the project?
(including roles,
responsibilities and
capabilities and capacity):

International/In-country International/In-country Partner

Partner

Allocated budget: (proportion or value)

Representation on the Yes/No

Project Board (or other
management structure)

Have you included a Letter Yes/No

of Support from this
partner? If no, please provide details (Max 50 words)

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Q36. Lead Partner Capability and Capacity
Has your organisation been awarded Biodiversity Challenge Funds (Darwin
Initiative, Darwin Plus or Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund) funding before (for
the purposes of this question, being a partner does not count)?

Yes/No

If yes, please provide details of the most recent awards (up to 6 examples).

Reference Project Title

No Leader

If no, please provide the below information on the Lead Partner.

What year was your

organisation established/
incorporated/ registered?

What is the legal status of NGO Yes/No

your organisation?
Government Yes/No

University Yes/No

Other (explain, max 25 words)

How is your organisation

(Max 100 words)
currently funded?

Describe briefly the aims, activities and achievements of your organisation. Large
organisations please note that this should describe your unit or department.

Aims (50 words)

Activities (50 words)

Achievements (50 words)

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Provide detail of 3 contracts/projects held by the Lead Partner that demonstrate your
credibility as an organisation and provide track record relevant to the project proposed.
These contracts/awards should have been held in the last 5 years and be of a similar size
to the grant requested in your application.

Contract/Project 1 Title

Contract Value/Project
budget (include
currency)

Duration (e.g. 2 years

3 months)

Role of organisation in (Max 50 words)

project

Brief summary of the (Max 100 words)

aims, objectives and
outcomes of the
project

Client/independent (Max 25 words)

reference contact
details (Name, e-mail)

Contract/Project 2 Title

Contract Value/Project
budget (include
currency)

Duration (e.g. 2 years

3 months)

Role of organisation in (Max 50 words)

project

Brief summary of the (Max 100 words)

aims, objectives and
outcomes of the
project

Client/independent (Max 25 words)

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reference contact
details (Name, e-mail)

Contract/Project 3 Title

Contract Value/Project
budget (include
currency)

Duration (e.g. 2 years

3 months)

Role of organisation in (Max 50 words)

project

Brief summary of the (Max 100 words)

aims, objectives and
outcomes of the
project

Client/independent (Max 25 words)

reference contact
details (Name, e-mail)

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Certification
On behalf of the trustees/company* of
(*delete as appropriate)
I apply for a grant of £ in respect of all Darwin Initiative expenditure to be incurred
during the lifetime of this project based on the activities and dates specified in the above
application.

I certify that, to the best of our knowledge and belief, the statements made by us in this
application are true and the information provided is correct. I am aware that this application
form will form the basis of the project schedule should this application be successful.
(This form should be signed by an individual authorised by the applicant institution to
submit applications and sign contracts on their behalf.)

 I have enclosed CVs for key project personnel, a cover letter, letters of support, a
budget, logframe, theory of change, Safeguarding and associated policies, and
project workplan.
 Our last two sets of signed audited/independently verified accounts and annual
report (or other financial evidence – see Finance Guidance) are also enclosed.

Name (block capitals)

Position in the organisation

Signed Date:

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Checklist for submission
Check

I have read the Guidance, including the “Darwin Initiative Guidance”,

“Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Guidance”, “Standard Indicator
Guidance”, “Risk Guidance”, and “Finance Guidance”.
I have read, and can meet, the current Terms and Conditions for this fund.
I have provided actual start and end dates for my project.
I have provided my budget based on UK government financial years i.e. 1
April – 31 March and in GBP.
I have checked that the budget is complete, correctly adds up and I have
included the correct final total at the start of the application.
The application has been signed by a suitably authorised individual (clear
electronic or scanned signatures are acceptable).
I have attached the below documents to my application:
 a cover letter from the Lead Partner, outlining how any feedback
received at has been addressed where relevant, as a single PDF.
 my completed logframe as a PDF using the template provided
 my 1 page Theory of Change as a PDF which includes the key elements
listed in the guidance.
 my budget (which meets the requirements above) using the template
provided.
 a signed copy of the last 2 annual report and accounts for the Lead
Partner (or other financial evidence – see Finance Guidance, or provided
an explanation if not
 my completed workplan as a PDF using the template provided.
 a copy of the Lead Partner’s Safeguarding Policy, Whistleblowing
Policy and Code of Conduct (Question 31).
 1 page CV or job description for all the Project Staff identified at
Question 34, including the Project Leader, or provided an explanation of
why not, combined into a single PDF.
 a letter of support from the Lead Partner and partner(s) identified at
Question 35, or an explanation of why not, as a single PDF.
I have been in contact with the FCDO in the project country(ies) and have
included any evidence of this. If not, I have provided an explanation of why
not.
My additional supporting evidence is in line with the requested evidence,
amounts to a maximum of 5 sides of A4, and is combined as a single PDF.
(If copying and pasting into Flexi-Grant) I have checked that all my responses
have been successfully copied into the online application form.
I have checked the Darwin Initiative website immediately prior to submission
to ensure there are no late updates.
I have read and understood the Privacy Notice on the Darwin Initiative
website.
Ensure you submit this application on Flexi-Grant.

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Once you have completed the checklist above, please submit via the Flexi-Grant portal,
not later than 23:59 GMT Monday 23rd October 2023.

Data protection and use of personal data

Information supplied in the application form, including personal data, will be used by Defra
as set out in the Privacy Notice, available from the Forms and Guidance Portal.

This Privacy Notice must be provided to all individuals whose personal data is
supplied in the application form. Some information may be used when publicising the
Darwin Initiative including project details (usually title, lead partner, project leader, location,
and total grant value).

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