UK mammals grant criteria
Applications will be welcomed from voluntary conservation organisations, scientific researchers and consortia for financial support for work that relates to the conservation of mammals in the United Kingdom. Acceptable fields of work for funding include scientific research, practical habitat management work, reintroduction and monitoring programmes and educational projects. Individual awards are likely to be between £10,000 and £20,000. The average amount granted per project has been about £15,000.
2024: Our UK Mammal Grant Programme is currently under review. Please check back soon.
Conservation Evidence
We are delighted to announce that we have recently collaborated with the Conservation Evidence Project, a University of Cambridge initiative, to become one of their Evidence Champions. The Conservation Evidence Project (www.conservationevidence.com) summarises the scientific evidence on different conservation interventions that people have carried out, all around the world. Their work so far includes comprehensive information on the conservation of birds and bees, frogs and forests. There is also information on work relating to many other taxa and in the next few years detailed work on other taxa will be added. For some projects, there will not yet be relevant evidence on the Conservation Evidence website; we encourage you to consult other evidence if available, but this will not prejudice your application.
Crucially, this information is made freely available, so anyone can read it and see what has worked – and what hasn’t. However, some conservation groups are still not using the available science, meaning they may not be as effective as they could be in conserving nature. As an Evidence Champion, PTES is keen to fund experimental conservation work, which tests actions that are undertaken in order to prove what does and what doesn’t work.
We would like all our grantees to check the evidence for their proposed projects on the Conservation Evidence website. This will help us to fund the projects with the highest chance of success. We will also be encouraging the conservationists that we fund to test their work and publish it in Conservation Evidence’s journal, so we can be constantly improving conservation science. For examples of how to reference Conservation Evidence in your application please click here.
If you have any questions relating to whether your proposed work either has been trialled previously or whether it can be adapted to be more effective, please email grants@ptes.org.
PTES grant guidelines for applicants
Key research themes
PTES funds work on British mammal species across the UK. Priority is given to research undertaken to understand the ecological and conservation needs of species previously listed on the UK BAP priority list. In particular we are interested in work that unlocks a conservation issue – something that has clear, practical implications for further conservation of one or more species. In some circumstances practical habitat work will be funded, but in the main limited funds will be directed at understanding what conservation actions are needed. Then it is expected that the practical conservation work needed to be undertaken will be funded from larger organisations such as HLF, Sita or other similar larger trusts.
PTES has identified three key themes under which there are a variety of research questions to be addressed which will help to inform and direct future conservation work on the UK’s priority mammal species. These research questions reflect priorities identified by the various species expert groups and other published targets.
Grant proposals that address any of these questions are more likely to be given priority although proposals addressing other pressing conservation issues will continue to be considered.
Where possible it would be beneficial if research is undertaken on more than one species. PTES prioritises over-arching issues that affect different species in various environments. However much of the work needed, by its very nature, will be species-specific.
Priority research themes
Human impacts and mitigation:
climate change – what will the likely negative impacts be on our mammal species and how can we mitigate for them?
housing and building development – demonstrate the most effective mitigation measures for mammals during the creation of new housing schemes and create user friendly advice aimed at developers
road and infrastructure development – determine the extent to which current and new infrastructure systems impact on species by investigating the levels at which populations become isolated and fragmented and by investigating the impacts total annual road kills are having at a population level; demonstrate effective mitigation measures and create user friendly advice aimed at Highways Agency and similar organisations
farming, food production and land management – seek to determine what measures are impacting species populations and contributing to a continuing decline in their numbers; demonstrate what measures can best mitigate for these impacts
impact of introduced mammals and diseases – how and to what extent are invasive non-native species impacting on UK mammals? How best can these impacts be controlled and removed? Are species being infected by diseases that are having a critical impact on their population?
toxic chemicals and pollution – how are different toxic chemicals, including pesticides, rodenticides and other pollutants, impacting UK mammals? How best can the negative impacts these cause be reduced?
Habitat availability, loss and modification:
habitat availability, suitability and connectivity – what is the current state and availability of key habitats for mammals (e.g. farmland, woodland, grassland, heathland, upland, coastal, freshwater and wetlands etc.) and how can increasing the amount, the condition or the connectivity be proven to benefit various species? Work in this area must be addressing the issue at a landscape level; i.e. determining what will sustain metapopulations and therefore can be repeated in different areas across the country
improving and restoring habitats – where needed/ unknown, determine best methods for restoration and improvement of critical habitats
habitat management – define best practice management advice for different habitats to ensure sufficient foraging and nesting for sustainable, well-connected populations
habitat fragmentation, modification and loss – how can we identify where habitation fragmentation and loss is an issue and determine how to mitigate for the impacts?
Monitoring mammals:
estimating distribution and abundance of species – devise UK-wide tools for determining the presence of species and/or for determining changes in abundance where methods are currently unavailable or where their efficiency could be vastly improved
national monitoring schemes – where needed, devise a methodology and long-term plan to implement a sustainable, annual monitoring scheme
NB the above list does not include priority actions for marine mammals. However, we are happy to accept applications for research on these species; the applications need to demonstrate the need for the actions suggested in any proposal.
How to apply
Please note we only accept grant applications via our online system. Allow yourself plenty of time to go through the application process. We recommend starting your application at least four weeks before the deadline. If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to email grants@ptes.org. We get a huge number of queries leading up to a closing date and therefore cannot guarantee to respond to all those made within a day or two of the deadline.
We acknowledge all applications. If you do not receive an acknowledgement email from us we MAY NOT have received your application.
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Privacy Policy
The information that you provide will be held by People’s Trust for Endangered Species. For information on how PTES processes personal data, please see our privacy policy. You can change how you hear from us via enquiries@ptes.org or by calling 020 7498 4533. The information collected through this grant application, is shared with a number of experts for assessment and to help guide conservation action. This data never includes your personal details.