The African Bird Club (ABC) funds conservation projects across the African continent and related islands through our Awards and Major Grants Programmes.
ABC is a critical player for conservation in Africa with a strong track record of helping to conserve the region’s birds and their habitats. Since our Conservation Fund was launched in 1996, we have made grants totalling over £600,000 to support more than 300 projects in 50 countries and territories of the ABC region.
A summary and analysis of the Awards Programme since its inception in 1996 can be downloaded here.
The full list of past projects and all available project reports can be viewed or downloaded here.
Click here for details of the latest projects that we are supporting.
ABC’s long-running Awards Programme supports a wide range of small to medium-sized projects in African countries, which benefit the conservation of birds and their habitats, with funds raised from donations and corporate sponsorships.
Our Awards Programme is managed by an independent Conservation Committee, who peer-review project proposals submitted to us and provide recommendations to ABC’s trustees as to whether these are suitable for funding.
Click here for information about how to apply for an award.
Conservation Awards of up to £3,000 each may be made to individuals who are normally resident in an African country or to institutions based there. Around 15 such awards are made every year by ABC.
Many different types of projects can be considered for support so long as there is a clear conservation objective, including:
• surveys and monitoring of birds and their habitats
• education projects or training courses
• production of guides to the birds of an area in local languages
• support for local bird clubs
• raising awareness of conservation issues
The amount of any Conservation Award requested from ABC should be a major part of the project budget.
Requests for contributions towards academic fees will not normally be considered, however funding for field projects that are being carried out as part of an academic study may be considered if funding from the academic institution is not available.
Expedition Awards of up to £5,000 each may be made for larger, more ambitious projects outside the applicant’s home country. Such an award is often only one component of the funding for the expedition, which must take place within mainland Africa or related islands and be conservation-based with a strong bird component. The expedition must also be associated with a bona fide academic institution, conservation NGO or recognised natural history or bird club, and be able to demonstrate prior approval from the government of the host country.
In addition:
• The expedition’s objectives should preferably be derived from any of the publications identifying international conservation priorities, such as the IUCN Red List and IBA inventories or directories.
• If an expedition originates from outside the ABC region, it must include substantial local participation from local NGOs such as BirdLife Partners, bird clubs, academic institutions, or relevant government agencies.
• Salaries of local counterparts can be supported but those of professional researchers or academics will not be.
Because our Conservation Fund is relatively small and demands on it are great, we do have to turn down some project proposals. So, it is important that applicants follow all our guidelines when they apply for an award.
ABC’s Major Grants Programme builds on the success of larger projects supported by ABC, in partnership with World Land Trust and other conservation organisations, to mark our 20th and 25th anniversaries in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Grants from ABC totalling £45,000 helped Nature Kenya acquire parcels of land in Taita Hills and Dakatcha Woodlands, which are critical habitats for threatened bird species including Taita Apalis (CR) and Clarke’s (Kilifi) Weaver (EN). A separate grant of £7,500 from ABC helped the Kasanka Trust maintain fire breaks around evergreen forests surrounding Kasanka National Park in Zambia, which are an important habitat for birds including African Pitta.
The Major Grants Programme is focused on achieving better protection and management of land of high conservation value for African birds. Our aim is to establish a new funding stream for this programme to support two larger projects a year with grants of around £12,500 each from ABC, which would be matched by funding from a partner organisation.
In 2022 ABC brokered a four-year project agreement between World Land Trust and Fundação Kissama to protect Afromontane forest at Mount Moco, the highest mountain and a proposed new conservation area in Angola. The forest is home to several endemic birds including Swierstra’s Spurfowl (EN). ABC also promoted and collected funds for this project on behalf of our local partner. All funds raised were spent in Angola, mostly on employing local community members to plant trees and burn firebreaks.