Turtle Conservation Fund Program

Priority for funding is given to projects that focus on tortoises or freshwater turtles that are already highly threatened according to the IUCN Red List or the TFTSG Provisional Red List, as either Critically Endangered or Endangered, or which may be highly threatened but not yet officially classified as such on the Red List. We do not support work on marine turtles.

TCF Awards are approximately in the $1000 to $5000 range per project (with full or partial funding depending on full project costs), and smaller seed grant projects are also encouraged (up to $1000 each) to support pilot conservation initiatives for tortoise and freshwater turtle species that are currently either IUCN Red Listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered (or on the TCF Priority Species list–see below), or species that may become priority species with an increase in the state of knowledge about the status of their populations or the threats they currently face (principally species currently classified on the Red List as Not Evaluated or Data Deficient).

Award recipients enter into contractual agreement with either Global Wildlife Conservation or Chelonian Research Foundation to produce the proposed work (these three non-profit organizations serve as TCF’s financial umbrella organizations). Award recipients are also encouraged to publish at least partial results of the supported research in the international scientific turtle journal, Chelonian Conservation and Biology, published by Chelonian Research Foundation (www.chelonian.org).

There are two funding cycles annually. Total disbursement has averaged between $20,000 to $50,000 per funding cycle, or $40,000 to $100,000 per year to date.

For more details: https://turtleconservationfund.org/grants/

Grant Application Deadlines: December 1.