CALL FOR LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS ON BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN GUATEMALA | 72052021RFA00010

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72052021RFA00010

USAID/Guatemala issued this grant opportunity as Addendum No. 10 to its existing Locally Led Development Annual Program Statement (APS) No. 7200AA19APS00007. It is a targeted call for concept submissions from local actors in Guatemala to support a set of cooperative agreement awards that will be shaped through a co-creation process with USAID. The focus is biodiversity conservation in key protected areas, with the broader aim of strengthening how Guatemala plans, governs, and manages its national protected areas system, known as SIGAP (Sistema Guatemalteco de Areas Protegidas). In other words, USAID is not only looking for site-level conservation actions, but also for approaches that build lasting national and local capacity to run protected areas more effectively over time.

The planned effort spans five years and totals up to USD 25 million in funding, with an expectation of making around five awards. The activity or activities will prioritize interventions across three selected land and seascapes, which signals an intent to work at a landscape scale rather than in isolated sites. That typically means coordinating multiple stakeholders (communities, protected area authorities, Indigenous and local governance structures, civil society groups, and possibly private sector partners) to address ecological threats and management gaps that cross administrative boundaries. The opportunity is framed as responsive to high-priority biodiversity sites in Guatemala, suggesting that USAID expects concepts to align with urgent conservation needs such as habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal wildlife trade, unsustainable resource extraction, weak enforcement capacity, and other pressures that undermine protected area integrity.

A key theme is linking conservation outcomes with sustainable livelihoods. The solicitation highlights generating nature-based, sustainable sources of income, which usually includes things like improved community forestry and non-timber forest products, responsible ecotourism, sustainable fisheries where relevant, regenerative or biodiversity-friendly agriculture in buffer zones, and other value chains that reward conservation rather than degradation. USAID also explicitly ties these livelihood and governance outcomes to reducing economic and/or security drivers of irregular migration, consistent with the USAID/Guatemala Country Development Cooperation Strategy. That means strong concepts will likely show how protecting ecosystems and improving local incomes and security can reduce the pressures that push people to migrate, especially from rural areas where limited economic opportunity and insecurity can be intertwined with environmental decline.

In terms of funding source and policy context, the addendum notes that the activity will be implemented primarily using congressionally mandated biodiversity conservation funds, with the possibility of additional future climate change funding for sustainable landscapes. Practically, this implies that proposed work should clearly fit within biodiversity conservation objectives, while also being designed in a way that can integrate climate-smart land management or resilience components if climate funding becomes available later. It also means applicants should expect compliance with USAID rules associated with biodiversity earmarks and environmental safeguards.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed as an "Other" category grant opportunity using a Cooperative Agreement instrument (Funding Opportunity Number 72052021RFA00010; CFDA 98.001). A cooperative agreement typically involves substantial involvement by USAID during implementation, which fits the co-creation approach described. Eligibility is broadly described as "Others," with additional eligibility details referenced in the full APS and related text fields. The original posting date was July 12, 2021, and the original closing date for submissions was August 30, 2021. Unless specifically modified by this addendum, all standard terms and conditions from the underlying Locally Led Development APS apply, meaning applicants are expected to follow the APS rules for concept submission, review, and subsequent co-creation steps leading to a potential award.

Overall, the opportunity is designed to channel significant, multi-year resources to locally led partnerships that can improve protected area governance and management across SIGAP, deliver measurable biodiversity conservation results in three priority land and seascapes, and pair conservation with practical, nature-based economic opportunities that help stabilize communities and reduce drivers of irregular migration.

• The Agency for International Development, Guatemala USAID-Guatemala City in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "CALL FOR LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS ON BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN GUATEMALA" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 12, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 30, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $25,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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