Our grant
This programme aims to drive innovation and enhance the cost-effectiveness of nature restoration by funding rigorous experimental trials of alternative ecological interventions.
We believe methodical experimentation is both vital and underfunded and we are seeking to address this gap by offering small grants and guidance. The knowledge generated will be made easily and freely available online following open access and reproducible research principles.
At a glance
£60,000
Total funding available
£15,000
Max funding per applicant
£2,000 - £6,000
Expected average budget range
How to apply
Applications will open on the 3rd February 2025 and must be submitted by 31st March 2025. Applicants are invited to complete an application form which will be used to select a shortlist of applicants who will be invited to an informal discussion which will inform the selection of successful applicants. All applicants can expect to hear back within 2 months of the closing date.
We expect the majority of applications to be between £2,000 and £6,000 but are happy to hear from projects that can justify the case for additional costs up to a maximum of £15,000.
Opens
3rd February 2025
Closes
31st March 2025
This grant welcomes
applications from all
backgrounds & locations
We want it to be inclusive and
to avoid any biases that could keep
great ideas from being tested!
More on the grant
Eligibility
Conditions
Assessment Criteria
- The type of innovation and research being proposed.
- The quality and justification of the research question.
- The suitability of the study design including the choice of methods, and demonstration of internal and external validity, feasibility, and team capacity.
- Making a compelling case for how the findings will help improve restoration practice
Members of the panel will have general ecological knowledge but may not be experts in your specific field of research so please try to avoid acronyms and ensure that the project is explained clearly and is well justified. The specific criteria and assessment form will be made available soon.
Assessment Criteria
Applicants are reviewed by a mixed panel of five scientists and practitioners and scored based on a few criteria…
Innovation at Mossy Earth
We have been excited about innovation since the early days of Mossy Earth. This is what led us to invest in projects such as the kelp restoration trials using green gravel or the experimental trials in Benin that test the use of termites to reverse desertification. We want to provide more opportunities to test novel restoration techniques to improve the impact and cost effectiveness of restoration projects around the world.
Kelp growing on rocks ready to be deployed
Investment gap
There is a huge gap between current investment into nature restoration and what is needed to halt the decline of biodiversity and the degradation of our ecosystems (a gap of 700$ billion per year until 2030 is one estimate). Most of our work focuses on tackling this head on through targeted and cost effective ecological interventions but our efforts are just a drop in the ocean of what is needed. Innovation has the potential to reduce this gap. Even small improvements in the success rate or cost-effectiveness of an intervention can have a huge pay-off for nature if applied at a large scale by multiple organisations.
Running experiements on our coral project
Trial and error
The kind of gradual trial and error that we wish to promote is also something that ends up being neglected both by academic institutions and by conservation organisations. There are research questions that could have important practical implications if addressed but that would hardly represent the kind of scientific breakthrough that pushes an academic career forward. On the flip side, practitioners are pressured by many funders to focus on actions that deliver measurable results and, with limited training in statistics and experimental design, practitioners often lack the resources they would need to tackle these same questions.
A snail marked under UV light for tracking released snails
Contact us
If you have any questions about the grant please contact us at innovation@mossy.earth