Trevor Poyser Fund

Description

1) Objective

The Ornithological Society of the Middle East (OSME) was formed in April 1978 as a successor to the Ornithological Society of Turkey and was expanded in 2001 to cover the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its aims are to collect, collate and publish ornithological data on birds of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia; and to assist environmental and conservation organisations and natural history societies concerned with ornithological studies and activities in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The Trevor Poyser Species Conservation Fund is aimed specifically at individual species research and conservation projects within the OSME region. Species eligible for funding are those that classified as globally threatened according to the IUCN/BirdLife International Red-list.

The following criteria must be met:

• The project leader must be a country national, although collaboration with organisations and experts from outside the project country are encouraged.
• Consideration will be given to other species where the applicant can clearly show that the population is of national importance.
• The project should have a strong emphasis on research and monitoring and should have clear conservation implications. Research that may lead to conservation actions that could potentially result in a species being down-listed will be considered favourably.
• If the target species has an international species action plan endorsed by AEWA, CMS or IUCN, then the project concept must be compatible with the objectives and activities of that plan.
• The project must be primarily field-based.

2) Eligibility

The project applicant must be able to receive the grant award via a bank transfer (please contact OSME if you have any concerns about this).

3) Location

Actions must take place in Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asian republics (i.e. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Russian Federation, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen).

4) Budget

One award of £5,000 is made each year.

5) Application

Applications must be submitted by the 1st December for projects that must start during the following calendar year. The successful applicant will be notified before the 31st December. The application form can be downloaded from their website.