Applications are open for the fully funded Conservation and Communities Fellowship for 24 community-based conservation leaders from the Global South

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Closing Date: 13 June 2025

Applications are open for the fully funded Conservation and Communities Fellowship for 24 community-based conservation leaders from the Global South

Are you a Global South grassroots conservation leader working at the intersection of biodiversity and community livelihoods? Ready to grow your leadership, strengthen your organisation, and connect with peers across the globe?

Applications are now open for the Conservation and Communities Fellowship 2025: a fully-funded, 7-month programme designed to support 24 changemakers through leadership training, mentoring skills, fundraising tools, and critical dialogue

Overview

The Conservation and Communities Fellowship is a 7-month, online and in-person programme for 24 community-based conservation leaders from the Global South. It is a unique learning experience designed to grow your mentoring, leadership and practical knowledge and skills, and to build a long-lasting community of practice. The CCF will strengthen your capacity and that of your organisation in fundraising, project design and evaluation.

Do you work within grassroots Global South civil society organisations at the intersection of biodiversity and livelihoods? Are you struggling to directly access funds for your projects and programmes. If so, please apply!

The CCF is fully funded for all participants, thanks to the generosity of its funders. This means there are no fees to join or participate in any part of the programme. CCF will ask all fellows to contribute a small amount towards their travel to the in-person gathering in Kenya in November 2025. This modest contribution helps ensure fairness and shared responsibility, while keeping the programme accessible to everyone. You do not need to apply for a travel allowance separately, CCF will assess each fellow’s individual circumstances and request a contribution accordingly. Contributions will not exceed 300 Euros each, and CCF is happy to help fellows fundraise for their travel cost contributions.

Who is it for?

The Fellowship is open to applicants from the Global South who are leaders in local civil society or grassroots organisations whose work focuses on the intersection of biodiversity conservation and community livelihoods.

Successful candidates will be highly motivated individuals who show commitment to bringing about positive change and who can demonstrate their leadership potential and capability. They are able to critically assess their personal and organisational challenges, and are capable of clearly articulating their learning requirements and needs.

Why Take Part?

the CCF is commmitted to:

Adopting contextual approaches and giving space to local and indigenous epistemologies;
Promoting the redistribution of opportunities and the scaling of results;
Open-ended and horizontal learning processes that centre peer-to-peer learning;
Promoting the decolonisation of funding practices and the creation of direct dialogues between donors, local NGOs and community leaders;
Consolidating a knowledge and practice-based network offering support to conservation leaders beyond the fellowship;
Understanding that leaders are embedded in organisations, and our work must engage the full organisational ecosystem to be effective.

How does it work?

Fellows will receive training, facilitation and peer support in four streams:

Mentoring, led by The Human Edge, trains fellows in the art of mentoring to enhance their management and relationship-building through a process of individual and relational growth.
Leadership, led by Common Purpose, enhances fellows’ ability to engage with diverse stakeholders and build communities of cooperation and collaboration to deliver conservation outcomes.
Capabilities & Capacities, led by GDF Team and CCF Alumni, focuses on technical skills, including proposal writing, project management, and team management.
Communities and Conservation, led by GDF Team and CCF Alumni, offers a space for critical dialogue and debate around policies, practices and public discourses on the topic of community-based conservation.