🌍 Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation 🦎 Funding for Early-Career Conservationists in Emerging and Developing Economies 🐘 (Up to £18,000)

The Rufford Foundation funds nature conservation projects in emerging and developing economy countries through its Rufford Small Grants, in four stages from £7,000 up to £18,000. There are no deadlines: you can apply at any time of year. At Youth Works Hub, we reviewed the official application, criteria and eligibility pages to bring together who can apply, what is funded, how the stages work and which countries qualify.

What Are the Rufford Small Grants?

🏛️ The Rufford Foundation funds nature conservation projects in emerging or developing economy countries. Its online system lets you apply for a grant or edit your Personal Profile if you have already received one.

🪜 Funding is staged, with four levels of support: the 1st Rufford Small Grant (1st RSG), the 2nd RSG, the Booster Grant and the Completion Grant. Grants range from £7,000 to £18,000.

🗓️ There are no deadlines, and applications can be submitted at any time of year.

Grant Amounts at Each Stage

🥇 1st Rufford Small Grant: up to £7,000. It is the first stage of funding.

🥈 2nd Rufford Small Grant: up to £8,000. It is the second stage of funding.

🚀 Booster Grant: up to £12,000. It is the third stage, and the project must develop important elements of your previous work.

🏁 Completion Grant: up to £18,000. It is the fourth and final stage, and the project must develop important elements of your previous work.

The Foundation supports small-scale or pilot projects. Ideally, it provides between 50 and 100% of the costs of the project. Where The Rufford Foundation is not the only funder, you need to show evidence of co-funding.

Who Can Apply

🌱 Applicants should be in the early stages of their conservation careers. The priority is funding people undertaking an MSc or PhD (or equivalent) or who graduated from such studies in the past 3 years.

🧾 The Foundation only considers fieldwork costs. It also considers applications from others if they fit the additional general criteria, but it does not fund students studying for a BSc or equivalent.

🎓 In short, undergraduate students are not funded.

🗺️ Applicants must be working in an eligible country. Applicants can be based in an advanced economy, but the project itself must be in an eligible country. The Foundation does not consider projects from applicants from advanced economies unless the project is in an eligible country, of high conservation priority and efforts are made to enhance local conservation capacity.

What Kind of Project Is Funded

🦜 Projects must have a nature conservation focus. They can focus on particular species, threatened habitats or issues like human-wildlife conflict or community education.

🐆 For projects focusing on species, the Foundation considers work on any species NOT listed as Least Concern at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It also considers species that do not appear on the list because they have not been assessed but are thought to be globally threatened.

🔬 Any species you are working on must be considered threatened.

🖼️ The Rufford website shows the range of work the Foundation funds, which helps you judge whether your idea fits.

What Is Not Funded

🚫 Pure research with no obvious conservation benefit.

🧭 Expeditions, particularly where the applicant must raise funds in order to participate.

🎤 Attending conferences or seminars.

📖 Publishing books.

Reporting, Co-Funding and Further Funding

📝 At every stage, you must provide project updates and a final report on project completion. Copies are posted on your webpage.

🤝 For the Booster Grant, you should be considering how the project might be sustained in the long term. Ideally, you should have plans to approach other funders, especially if you intend to request further funding from the Foundation.

💷 By the Completion Grant stage, you should have co-funding. The Foundation suggests aiming to raise funding from other sources matching the amount you request from it, and it requires evidence of support from other sources.

🔁 After completing a project and providing updates and a final report, you can apply for the next stage, but it must be at least 12 months after the date of payment of the previous grant.

🔒 Once you have received a Completion Grant, you cannot apply for further funding, because by this stage you should be able to access larger-scale funding.

Applying More Than Once

⏱️ You can only make one funding application in any 12-month period.

❌ If your application is rejected, you must wait 12 months before you can reapply.

✅ If you are funded, you cannot apply for further support for at least 12 months.

Which Countries Are Eligible

The restriction is based on the country of the project, not on your nationality. Projects in the following countries qualify for support. Almost all are considered by the International Monetary Fund as Emerging Markets or Developing Economies.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Projects in the following countries do not qualify, including those where there are currently banking sanctions: Afghanistan, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR, Malta, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, West Bank and Gaza.

The Foundation notes that it is currently unable to consider applications for Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, West Bank and Gaza. For Ukraine, applications cannot be considered from Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk regions.

Costs and Not an Erasmus+ or ESC Programme

🆓 The official page does not mention an application fee.

🚫 This is not an Erasmus+ or European Solidarity Corps (ESC) programme. It is a grant from a private foundation for conservation fieldwork, so no Erasmus+ or ESC rules, travel reimbursement or Youthpass apply.

📣 Find more opportunities like this in the Others category on Youth Works Hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a deadline for Rufford Small Grants?

No. There are no deadlines, and you can apply at any time of year.

How much can I get?

Grants range from £7,000 to £18,000 across four stages: up to £7,000 for the 1st RSG, up to £8,000 for the 2nd RSG, up to £12,000 for the Booster Grant and up to £18,000 for the Completion Grant.

Can undergraduate students apply?

No. The Foundation does not fund students studying for a BSc or equivalent. Its priority is current MSc or PhD students or people who graduated from such studies in the past 3 years.

Does my nationality matter?

The restriction is based on the country where the project takes place, not on your nationality. Your project must be in an eligible country.

What if my application is rejected?

You must wait 12 months before you can reapply, and you can only make one funding application in any 12-month period.

Can I apply for a second grant?

Yes, after completing your project and providing updates and a final report. The next application must be at least 12 months after the date of payment of the previous grant.