Call for proposals
Call for proposals: The CoExistence Fund
The CoExistence Fund is a fund set up by the British Asian Trust to support conservation initiatives in India. It has been made possible through our CoExistence campaign, which was launched in 2020 with Elephant Family. The Fund is an exciting opportunity for us to grow our conservation work and develop new partnerships.
The British Asian Trust invites proposals from organisations working on human-wildlife coexistence in India. We accept the Pooley et al. (2020) definition of coexistence:
“A sustainable though dynamic state, where humans and wildlife co-adapt to sharing landscapes. While some negative impacts on both people and wildlife are perhaps unavoidable, laws, policies and conservation interventions should attempt to minimise these. To ensure wildlife populations persist, but in socially and ethically legitimate ways, acceptable to local communities, where the risks are kept within tolerable levels, which are determined based on the local context”.
We will accept proposals for the following streams :
- Large grants (£100,000 - £150,000): for scaling or replicating projects with established evidence and high impact and prepare them for further investment from institutional funding
- Medium grants (£50,000 - £100,000): for investing in ideas or projects that have demonstrated initial evidence of success through pilots and now want to track and assess impact, effectiveness and viability to help establish coexistence as an approach and provide proof of concept in the conservation sector
- Small grants (£10,000 - £50,000): for small scale and early-stage/ pilot innovations to gather evidence and identify different possibilities, approaches and ideas in the conservation sector
Please find further details about the general guidelines, evaluation criteria and selection process below. It is important to read these before submitting a proposal.
To apply
Completed application forms should be emailed to CoExFund@britishasiantrust.org by 23:59 IST on 11 November 2022
Download documents
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CoExistence Fund - Guidelines
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CoExistence Fund - Application Form (Stage 1)
Background: The CoExistence campaign
CoExistence was an environmental art exhibition featuring 100 life size lantana elephants. It tells the story of our over-populated planet, the effect of human encroachment on wild spaces and the inspiring ways we can coexist with all the other living beings that make our world magical – from tigers and orangutans to nightingales and elephants.
The herd started life in the Nilgiri Hills of Southern India, where they were created by the local communities, under the creative direction of The Real Elephant Collective, who live alongside their real-life counter parts in complete harmony. As part of the campaign, the herd roamed across the Royal Parks in London and were accessible to public visitors. The money raised through the campaign is now supporting our conservation work through the CoExistence Fund.
CoExistence Advisory Group
A CoExistence Advisory Group consisting of expert conservationists and specialists in their fields has been convened by the British Asian Trust to provide guidance and advice of the CoExistence Fund.
