Lake Baikal Foundation launches its own grant program for rare, red-listed and endemic animals and plants of the Baikal natural area. The key partner of the program is «World Around You» Foundation of the Siberian Wellness Corporation.
The health and safety of mankind, as well as the development of the economy issues of food security, to a large extent depend on the prosperous and balanced state of natural ecosystems. The growing pressure on the habitats of animals and plants due to human activities leads to their gradual degradation, and this, in turn, can lead to catastrophic consequences in the form of crop failures and fires for people.
In terms of threats to ecosystems, the Baikal natural area is no exception. For balanced development of this territory and the prevention of critical consequences in the form of a decline in numbers or even the complete extinction of certain species of animals and plants, Lake Baikal Foundation, whose key activity is precisely the conservation of Baikal’s biodiversity, has initiated a special grant program. The program continues the previously launched «Baikal Initiative», which is aimed at supporting you scientists studying the lake’s ecosystem and popularizing scientific knowledge, as well as supporting a set of research activities to conserve the Baikal seal, the only mammal of lake Baikal. Guidelines and selection criteria on the grant program for rare, red-listed and endemic animals and plants of the Baikal natural area conservation were developed based on the results of an assessment of the effectiveness of previous grants from the Foundation in these areas, an analysis of the most demanded items of expenditure on the part of grant recipients, and discussions with scientific departments of specially protected natural areas.
Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO of Lake Baikal Foundation:
The Baikal natural area is unique in its flora and fauna, many of which are suffering due to the growing anthropogenic pressure in their habitats. However, there is still insufficient data on the reasons for the decline in the number of some animals and plants, and conservation projects also face the problem of underfunding. We see the goal of the program to support systemic initiatives in the field of study and conservation of Red List and endemic species and their habitats in the Baikal natural area, especially if these initiatives do not have other sources of support or the amount of available support is not sufficient.
Grant areas:
- restoration and support of the well-being of the Red List, rare and endemic species of animals and plants;
- conservation and restoration of their habitats;
- study and monitoring of species, whose habitats are partially or completely outside the protected areas.
The following entities are invited to apply:
- teams of the specially protected natural areas;
- specialized research organisations, including institutes, universities and other institutions carrying out scientific and environmental activities on the territory of the Russian Federation;
- environmental NGOs with experience in implementing projects within one of the designated areas.
Larisa Buyantueva, the head of projects of the «World Around You» Foundation:
Support for the new grant program of our system partner, Lake Baikal Foundation, meets our priorities in charity work. We believe that the joined efforts and resources of the Foundation and the Siberian Wellness Corporation will allow launching several substantive initiatives aimed at Red List and endemic species of Baikal conservation, the fate of which worries the citizens of our country. For the Siberian Wellness Corporation, this is an opportunity to contribute to the achievement of the SDG №13 on climate and №15 on the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems, which we have identified as priorities for ourselves.
The full text of the guidelines in Russian is available on the website of Lake Baikal Foundation via the link.
Application period will be opened until April 30. Additional questions about the conditions of participation can be asked by email bi@baikalfounation.ru.
Previously, with the support of Lake Baikal Foundation, project were implemented to conserve rare and endemic species of lake Baikal, in particular, to restore the population of Olkhon vole population, to study the migration routes of an isolated group of red-listed wild reindeer, and to comprehensively study the well-being of the Baikal seal.
Photo: the Baikal Reserve