Funding Opportunities

To support the protection of ecologically significant cores and corridors. Funds for environmental education and public outreach.

Grants support programs, initiatives and infrastructure projects that encourage backcountry, urban and near-urban outdoor recreation. Funds for trail development, infrastructure related to access to areas.

To support the protection of ecologically significant cores and corridors. Funding for small research projects on species at risk, traditional use studies, etc.

To strengthen the effectiveness of conservation organizations. Relevance to Guardian Watchmen program: Capacity building for Guardian Watchmen programs on fundraising, leadership, communications. Regional Guardian Watchmen gatherings.

Building Resilience in Indigenous Communities Initiative focuses on re-localizing sustainable energy and food economies as a means to mitigate climate change and nurture cultural and spiritual restoration.  This initiative supports organizations working in two areas: Funding for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy grants and funding for Traditional Food Economies grants.  The Traditional Food Economies grants will be provided to organizations that utilize Indigenous wisdom and traditional methods to implement sustainable local food production systems. Possible funding for Food Social Ceremonial projects.

Pacific Salmon Foundation supports citizens to become active in their backyard streams which in turn, leads to active, engaged citizens who are part of a self-determined community needed to address the complex issues facing salmon at the local, provincial and federal level. The Community Salmon Program (CSP) supports stewards who volunteer thousands of hours each year to monitor watersheds, develop and implement rehabilitation projects, educate and inform their community and advocate for the conservation and protection of our shared resource - salmon.  Relevance to Guardian Watchmen programs: Habitat assessment, habitat rehabilitation, stewardship and community planning, and stock assessments.

Funding is available through the EcoAction Community Funding Program for projects that address Environment Canada’s priority issues of Clean Air and Climate Change, Clean Water, and Nature. In 2009, a funding priority was eligible projects that addressed Biodiversity issues. For example, Nature - projects focusing on protecting wildlife and plants, and protecting and improving the habitat where they live (e.g., grasslands, rivers, forests, etc.).

The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund is looking for projects that: focus on freshwater wild fish, native wildlife species and their habitats; have the potential to achieve a significant conservation outcome; best represent the interests of the trust Foundation's contributors; and maintain or enhance opportunities for fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing and associated outdoor recreational activities. This fund could provide funds Guardian Watchmen programs for surveying, monitoring, and assessment activities.

Lending Program - Ecotrust Canada Capital offers financing to enterprises, First Nations, cooperatives and nonprofits that incorporate environmental and social values into their operations or that promote jobs and diversification in rural and Aboriginal communities. Possible relevance for Guardian Watchmen programs incorporating ecotourism or other conservation-focused operations. Note: no funding deadline, ongoing application.

2009 Funding Support - Direct Support Initiative - New Relationship Trust supports Nation Building by assisting First Nations and their communities in five key areas: education, capacity, language & culture, youth & elders, and economic development.

Some eligible projects relevant to Guardian Watchmen Programs include: Human Resource Development in areas such as staff training programs, youth skill building; Institutional and Legal Framework Development in areas such as governance / nation building projects; governance policy development (including Land Use Planning); economic development planning, including collaboration projects between local governments, and with non-profit groups on economic development projects that provide benefits at the community level; impact benefit agreements (IBA’s with the government, forestry, mining, construction, transportation, oil / gas, energy / hydro industry sectors).