Dear Colleague,
The Open Space Institute is happy to announce the fifth grant round for the Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund. The Fund supports land protection projects within specific focus areas whose forests and wetlands protect climate resilient wildlife habitat and store and sequester significant atmospheric carbon.
OSI is accepting proposals through 5:00 pm EST, June 14, 2024, for the Cradle of Southern Appalachia ($4 million available), Northern Appalachians ($700,000 available), and Western/Central Pennsylvania Focus Areas ($2.1 million available).
To learn more about the Fund, its guidelines and criteria, as well as review the application process, please REGISTER HERE for a webinar on Thursday, May 16th at 12:00 PM EDT.
Through this Fund, OSI provides capital grants to conservation projects within the globally important Appalachian region that address both the biodiversity crisis and climate change. To date, the Fund has committed capital grants to 36 projects that will help conserve roughly 44,000 acres of land across 8 states from Georgia to Maine.
OSI is committed to advancing land justice and equity in its grantmaking by supporting projects that benefit racially diverse and economically underserved communities, as well as supporting organizations that identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color led. To learn more about OSI’s commitment to equity and land justice, please read our equity values statement and a message from OSI’s former CEO, Kim Elliman.
This work is made possible with a lead grant from the Doris Duke Foundation and with significant support from the Lyndhurst, Riverview and Tucker Foundations, an anonymous New England-based family foundation, William Penn Foundation, Footprint Foundation, and Richard King Mellon Foundation as well as other foundations and individuals who understand the critical role that land protection plays in addressing the threats of climate change.
We encourage you to review the Request for Proposals, provide us with feedback, be in touch with questions, and share this information with your networks.
On behalf of the OSI team,
Nick Richardson
Senior Vice President, Capital Strategies
Conservation Capital
