Research Grant Competition 2 (RGC2): The GCBC awards £13.4 million in UK ODA grants for research to find nature-based solutions to climate change and poverty reduction   

Research Grant Competition 2 (RGC2): The GCBC awards £13.4 million in UK ODA grants for research to find nature-based solutions to climate change and poverty reduction   

Research Grant Competition 2 (RGC2): The GCBC awards £13.4 million in UK ODA grants for research to find nature-based solutions to climate change and poverty reduction   

RGC2 awards 18 new project grants worth £13.4 million based on the theme: “Driving innovation in how biodiversity can support climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through practice and governance”.

Initial concept note applications for the second GCBC research grant competition (RGC2) numbered 507 from lead delivery partners in 60 UK-ODA eligible countries. This response more than trebled the 155 applications submitted for the first round of grants in 2023. From the initial concept notes, 56 applications were selected to submit full proposals.    

Grant awards were made using several criteria, including applications’ contribution to the context of the RGC2 theme. These involved assessing applicants’ understanding of how addressing evidence gaps in the potential of nature-based solutions using less utilised species (plants, animals, insects, fungi, trees etc.) can contribute to:   

  • improving poor livelihoods through more resilience to climate change;  
  • meeting resource or service demands; and  
  • protecting and conserving traditional knowledge and biodiversity.  

Filling these evidence gaps is critical to finding innovative approaches to guide practice and governance.  

Climate change, biodiversity loss and poverty are three of the most pressing challenges facing the world today and are fundamentally inter-linked. Climate change, driven by human activity, is increasingly and negatively affecting people and the natural environment. Biodiversity loss, which also results from human activity, is causing degraded landscapes and soil and increasing food insecurity. This exacerbates climate risk by reducing the resilience of natural and managed ecosystems. Unfortunately, those living in poverty are often the most vulnerable and the least able to respond to the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. 

By working in partnership with scientists, research institutions and practitioners around the world, the GCBC seeks to develop innovative research and scalable approaches to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. This will have an impact on ecosystem resilience to climate change, halting and reversing biodiversity loss, contributing to poverty alleviation and helping countries to achieve a nature-positive future. The GCBC is funded by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs working in partnership with DAI as the Fund Manager Lead and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as the Strategic Science Lead. 

The 18 projects awarded under RGC2 will be implemented in 16 UK ODA-eligible countries in the Global South; seven countries from Latin America (including Central America) and the Caribbean (Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; Dominican Republic; Guatemala; Panama; Peru); six from Sub-Saharan Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo; Ethiopia; Ghana; Kenya; Tanzania; Republic of Congo); and three from South East Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia; Indonesia; Vietnam).  

Eleven of the RGC2 projects cover broad thematic areas: Agroforestry; Community led approaches; Integrated land / water management; and Forest restoration. Seven of the projects cover more uniquely focused research areas: Seagrass restoration; Carbon markets; Biodiverse seed bank; Mangrove restoration; Peatlands; Land use (landscape level); and Underutilised species for soil restoration.  

This new round of 18 diverse and innovative projects represents a consolidation of the ‘Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate’ as Defra’s flagship ODA R&D programme.  These new projects will continue GCBC’s growing reputation for delivery of high-quality evidence about the effective and sustainable use of biodiversity for climate resilience and to improve livelihoods.” said Professor Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Adviser, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

“As fund management lead, DAI is delighted to continue our relationship with Defra and especially to welcome the successful applicants who are joining the GCBC’s project portfolio for the next phase of the programme’s development. Through this project round, we will continue to support scientists, academics and research institutions working to build stronger capacity, increase collaboration, deliver high-impact projects and share learning on the biodiversity-climate-livelihoods nexus that will have an impact on ecosystem resilience to climate change, halting and reversing biodiversity loss and contributing to poverty alleviation,” said Luqman Ahmad, Senior Vice President, DAI. 

“As strategic science lead, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew also welcomes the new projects to the growing portfolio. The new evidence, data and knowledge across pressures/drivers, solutions and enablers for the different themes of the grant competitions will support the adoption of systems approaches in tackling the nexus of climate, biodiversity and livelihoods. By understanding and managing the complex interactions between science, society and the multiple interacting systems through temporal and spatial scales it will be possible to recommend solutions – orientated approaches for transformative change across different sectors and regions,” said Professor Monique Simmonds, Deputy Director, Science (Partnerships), The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.   

The 18 Projects funded by RGC2:

Assessing Carbon Credits as a Sustainable Funding Mechanism for Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania – Lead Grantee: Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania (Country: Tanzania)

Biodiversity for climate and social resilience: Empowerment of coastal communities in sustainable production practices in Ecuador – Lead Grantee: Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral – ESPOL, Ecuador (Country: Ecuador)

Biodiversity science in support of community-led conservation of threatened local forests in Tompotika, Central Sulawesi: Protecting biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate resilient local livelihoods – Lead Grantee: Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), USA (Country: Indonesia)

Biodiversity potential for resilient livelihoods in the Lower Omo, Ethiopia – Lead Grantee: University of Leeds, UK (Country: Ethiopia)

BREL-Borneo: Benefits of Biodiverse Restoration for Ecosystems and Livelihoods in Borneo – Lead Grantee: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK (Country: Indonesia)

Cataloguing and Rating of Opportunities for Side-lined Species in Restoration of Agriculturally Degraded Soils in Sub-Saharan Africa (CROSSROADS-SSA) – Lead Grantee: University of Aberdeen, UK (Country: Ethiopia)

Creation of an Intercultural biodiverse Seed Bank with the indigenous “Resguardo Puerto Naranjo” for enhancing restoration and conservation efforts in degraded areas in the Colombian Amazon – Lead Grantee: Fundación Tropenbos, Colombia (Country: Colombia)

EMBRACE: Engaging Local Communities in Minor Crop Utilisation for Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Enrichment – Lead Grantee: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Ghana (Countries: Ghana and Kenya)

Enabling large-scale and climate-resilient forest restoration in the Eastern Amazon – Lead Grantee: Lancaster University, UK (Country: Brazil)

Exploring sustainable land use pathways for ecosystems, food security and poverty alleviation: opportunities for Indonesia’s food estate programme – Lead Grantee: University of Sussex, UK (Country: Indonesia)

Forest restoration on Indigenous lands: Restoring biodiversity for multiple ecosystem services, community resilience and financial sustainability through locally informed strategies and incentives – Lead Grantee: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama (Country: Panama)

Integrated Land and Water Management of the Greater Amanzule Wetland System – Lead Grantee: University of Education, Winneba, Ghana (Country: Ghana)

NATIVE: Sustainable Riverscape Management for Resilient Riverine Communities – Lead Grantee: University of Lincoln, UK (Countries: Colombia and Dominican Republic)

Nature based solutions for climate resilience of local and Indigenous communities in Guatemala – Lead Grantee: University of Greenwich, UK (Country: Guatemala)

Realising the potential of plant bioresources as new economic opportunities for the Ecuadorian Amazon: developing climate resilient sustainable bioindustry – Lead Grantee: Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador (Country: Ecuador)  

Recognising and rewarding the contribution of Indigenous knowledge for the sustainable management of biodiversity – Lead Grantee: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), USA (Country: Cambodia)

TRIALS: Translating Research into Action for Livelihoods and Seagrass: Establishing scientific foundation for seagrass restoration and blue carbon potential, with sustainable livelihood development for coastal communities in Central Vietnam – Lead Grantee: WWF-UK, UK (Country: Vietnam)

Using biodiversity to support climate resilient livelihoods in intact tropical peatlands – Lead Grantee: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK  (Countries: Peru, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo)  

 

Photo Credit (Detail): Laitche

 

 

 

 

Assessing Carbon Credits as a Sustainable Funding Mechanism for Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania

Country: Tanzania

Lead Partner: Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

Summary: Tanzania is rich in biodiversity but faces rapid deforestation and severe poverty. Villages own 46% of forests, but resource limitations hinder effective management and deforestation continues apace. Carbon credits offer potential incentives for climate mitigation and biodiversity preservation, yet their applicability to village forests remains unproven at scale.

This project aims to collaborate closely with local communities to evaluate the feasibility of carbon credit schemes, considering costs, benefits and governance. Additionally, it will focus on capacity-building initiatives for village governments and stakeholders, empowering them to navigate carbon markets effectively. Through this approach, the project aims to harness the power of carbon markets to combat climate change, safeguard biodiversity, and alleviate poverty in Tanzania’s forested areas.

Photograph (detail): Laitche

Biodiversity science in support of community-led conservation of threatened local forests in Tompotika, Central Sulawesi: Protecting biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate resilient local livelihoods

Country: Indonesia

Lead Partner: Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), USA

Summary: This project will empower the communities of Tompotika, Sulawesi to protect their forests from the urgent threat of nickel mining concessions and enhance their nature-based livelihoods. The project will collaboratively (1) characterise Tompotika’s plant biodiversity through botanical inventories, species extinction assessments, climate modelling, and key ecosystem services; (2) document traditional ecological and biocultural knowledge to prioritise climate resilient species that support livelihoods and provide important ecosystem services; (3) establish a community-run plant nursery for cultivation of selected species; and (4) disseminate this knowledge to internal and external stakeholders through community education and outreach as well as scientific publications and presentations.

Through a combination of biodiversity science and capacity building, this work will support the collaborative development of conservation proposals and promote the sustainable cultivation of economically important species to alleviate poverty and support climate resilience for the communities of Tompotika.

Photograph (detail): Enrico Kumesan

 

Biodiversity potential for resilient livelihoods in the Lower Omo, Ethiopia

Country: Ethiopia

Lead Partner: University of Leeds, UK

Summary: The project will fill knowledge gaps and elucidate the potential for biodiversity to contribute to and improve livelihood security, adaptation to climate change, and resilience in Ethiopia’s new Tama Community Conservation Area (CCA), where there is a data paucity to manage from.

As the local communities hold rich traditional ecological knowledge, the project will combine systemic biodiversity monitoring with ethnobotany and ethnozoology qualitative data, to address the biodiversity-livelihoods knowledge gap. Datasets will then be input into population models with climate projections to explore future change in biodiversity and thus livelihoods.

The project will co-create management plans for the CCA with its staff, making them climate-resilient. Throughout all activities, capacity building will take place for continuing biodiversity monitoring and resilience assessment by CCA staff through linkages with AMU, so that the CCA can practice evidence-informed adaptive management in the future.

The main impact is to improve social-ecological resilience for beneficiaries in the Mursi, Bodi, Bacha, and Aari communities. The project will contribute to outcomes across the following strategic science principles – creating wide participation to support capacity building for the CCA and communities through robust data collection, sharing best practices and demonstrating what works to inform policy in the Tama CCA, but also other CCAs to inform their sustainable management.

Photograph (detail): Rod Waddington

Cataloguing and Rating of Opportunities for Side-lined Species in Restoration of Agriculturally Degraded Soils in Sub-Saharan Africa (CROSSROADS-SSA)

Country: Ethiopia

Lead Partner: University of Aberdeen

Summary: CROSSROADS-SSA will catalogue and test the use of “sidelined” or “underutilised” native plants to restore degraded soils in Ethiopia, characterising impacts on biodiversity, poverty alleviation, and climate adaptation and mitigation. Species include (1) local high-drought-tolerant varieties; (2) climate-resilient perennials; (3) nitrogen-fixing or phosphorus mobilising species; and (4) species that stabilise eroding banks.

Expected outcomes: Increased agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change through improved soil health; and increased biodiversity by increasing local value of native plants.

What will be achieved? Restoring degraded land by capturing more carbon in soils contributes to mitigation of climate change and increases infiltration and retention of water in the soil, so improving resilience to erosion, droughts and floods. By using underutilised plant species to do this, both above and below-ground biodiversity will be enhanced through increased use of indigenous crops, trees and shrubs to improve fertility and reinforce unstable soils. The extent of this and the consequent impacts on soils, biodiversity, poverty and climate adaptation will be fully quantified and understood.

Who will benefit? Low-income farmers in Ethiopia and across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), using resources that are already available on the farm (underutilised plant species) to improve productivity.

EMBRACE: Engaging Local Communities in Minor Crop Utilisation for Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Enrichment

Countries: Ghana and Kenya

Lead Partner: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Ghana

Summary: EMBRACE is a comprehensive project aimed at improving the livelihoods of 1250 impoverished households in Ghana and Kenya, to achieve a 40% improvement by 2027.

EMBRACE will work with 25 communities to promote sustainable agricultural practices, forest conservation, and community empowerment, targeting significant poverty, biodiversity loss and inequality reduction.

EMBRACE’s approach involves establishing 25 agroforestry model farmsteads that integrate snail, mushroom, and beekeeping production, and training 500 women and youth in sustainable agriculture and nursery management to enable them to produce diverse and nutritious food, generate income, and conserve natural resources. The project will also support community-owned nurseries and revolving funds to promote self-sufficiency, gender equity, and social inclusion.

Additionally, EMBRACE will engage stakeholders such as local governments, community leaders, and the private sector, to influence policies that support resource and biodiversity conservation. Through EMBRACE, communities will be empowered to drive their development and make informed decisions about their natural resources.

The project’s impact will be felt beyond the 25 communities, serving as a model for sustainable development and community-led conservation in Ghana and Kenya. Thus, EMBRACE will contribute to a more just and sustainable world, where communities thrive in harmony with nature.

Photograph (Detail): McKay Savage

Enabling large-scale and climate-resilient forest restoration in the Eastern Amazon

Country: Brazil

Lead Partner: Lancaster University, UK

Summary: The Brazilian Amazonian state of Pará has an ambitious target to restore 7.4 million hectares of tropical forest by 2036, accounting for >50% of the restoration targets of Brazil. Restoring diverse forests at scale requires unlocking the potential of natural regeneration. This project will achieve this by guiding where restoration needs to happen to maximise benefits for climate, people and biota. It will also investigate how to ensure the long-term permanence of natural regeneration, also called secondary forests, in the landscape; currently, most natural regeneration is converted back to agriculture within five years.

This work, co-created with a diverse range of Amazonian stakeholders, addresses three overlooked challenges when it comes to restoration of tropical rainforests. First, by bringing biodiversity to the centre of restoration planning, it defines where restoration will maximise species diversity, landscape connectivity, and support species of conservation concern. Second, it goes beyond the carbon sequestration and makes a novel assessment of the local and regional climate benefits of restoration. Third, it helps to ensure the permanence of restoration by understanding key threats, such as fires. Finally, the project will co-develop a user-friendly prioritisation tool to help guide implementation and make natural regeneration a scalable solution for the climate and biodiversity crises in Amazonia.

Photograph (detail): Vinícius Mendonça

Integrated Land and Water Management of the Greater Amanzule Wetland System

Country: Ghana

Project Lead: University of Education, Winneba – Ghana

Summary: The Greater Amanzule Wetland (GAW) is threatened by artisanal mining, climate change, rubber plantations, and subsistence farming despite its ecological support for fauna and flora. Major interventions have focused less on the hydrological systems of the GAW. This project seeks to bridge this knowledge gap through work packages: hydrological systems and ecosystem service analysis; climate-smart farming for households; and development of decision tools and policy briefs to enhance conservation efforts.

The expected outcomes are: i) land use maps and spatial database indicating areas of significant degradation to inform restoration activities; ii) hydrological maps and reports on the level of pollution; iii) ecosystem services report to understand the ecosystem benefit of GAW to households and challenges affecting the services; iv) improved livelihood activities of over 400 households to be trained in beekeeping, agroforestry and native species nursery; v) maps and report indicating restored landscape; vi) decision support tools for government officials and stakeholders to enhance ecological planning and decisions; and vii) dissemination of reports and policy briefs.

The ultimate aim is to help improve livelihoods of households and the ecosystem services of GAW under increasing pressures of man and climate change. Also, to help Ghana conserve its wetland and maintain its National Determined Contributions with respect to carbon.

TRIALS – Translating Research into Action for Livelihoods and Seagrass: Establishing scientific foundation for seagrass restoration and blue carbon potential, with sustainable livelihood development for coastal communities in Central Vietnam

Country: Vietnam

Lead Partner: WWF-UK

Summary: This project will address scientific knowledge gaps on seagrass status, restoration, and associated marine biodiversity and blue carbon potential in Central Vietnam. It will devise improved, sustainable and climate-resilient livelihood options for local coastal communities, highlighting the interconnected ecological, economic, social and community resilience benefits from seagrass ecosystems, and supporting evidence-based action plans and policy for seagrass conservation and blue carbon.

Photograph (detail): Milorad Mikota

Realising the potential of plant bioresources as new economic opportunities for the Ecuadorian Amazon: developing climate resilient sustainable bioindustry

Country: Ecuador

Lead Partner: Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja

Summary: The Ecuadorian Amazon region has few and very marginal economic opportunities for local communities and farmers. Economic stressors usually trigger the need to extract valuable resources from primary forests, i.e. high value timber species. Some of these species can be used for essential oil production. The legal, economic, and biophysical technical parameters, as well as the potential for essential oil production of these promising species, will be assessed through robust scientific methods. This will serve to establish a sustainable climate-smart industry as an economical alternative, producing highly demanded essential oils. This in turn will halt biodiversity loss of selected species while contributing to local livelihoods.

Photograph (detail): Fährtenleser