Grant and Funding Programs Offered by The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund

The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MBZ Fund) is a dedicated global grant maker focused on preventing species extinction. Established in 2009 with an endowment provided by the leadership of Abu Dhabi, the Fund supports on-the-ground conservation projects for threatened plants, animals and fungi in any region of the world. Its grant making is explicitly species-focused and non-discriminatory by geography or taxonomic group.

The Fund operates primarily as a small grants programme, offering awards of up to US$25,000 per project. These grants are designed to empower individual conservationists, local NGOs, researchers and community groups to implement practical fieldwork such as surveys, monitoring, habitat restoration, direct protection, recovery planning and community-based conservation actions.

The MBZ Fund runs three main grant rounds each year, with application windows typically opening in January, May and September. For each round, clear opening and closing dates and indicative response timelines are published. All applications must be submitted through an online portal, in English, and with budgets expressed in US dollars. The review process begins with internal assessment and proceeds to an independent Advisory Board, ensuring scientific rigor and fairness.

Grants are capped at US$25,000 from the Fund, though projects may have larger overall budgets backed by other donors. The Fund is open to both first-time and continuation grants, provided previous recipients have submitted required reports. Over time, the MBZ Fund has expanded from hundreds to thousands of supported projects and now reports more than 3,000 grants awarded across over 170 countries.

The Fund’s core priority is species that face a high risk of extinction. It relies heavily on the IUCN Red List to judge conservation status and prioritises Critically Endangered and Endangered species, as well as Data Deficient or not-yet-assessed species that are suspected to be highly threatened. Applicants are expected to justify status with references and quantitative data where possible.

In general, the Fund favours in situ conservation work in the wild, such as field research, direct interventions, local capacity-building and training. Ex situ activities (e.g. genetic analysis, captive populations, workshops) may also be supported when they clearly contribute to species conservation outcomes. The Fund does not provide broad institutional core funding or unrestricted overhead but can cover project-related salaries and living costs when essential to fieldwork.

The MBZ Fund serves a wide audience of conservation practitioners: individual scientists, local and international NGOs, protected area staff, indigenous and local communities, and emerging conservation leaders, including women and youth. Since its inception, it has backed over 3,000 projects and helped protect more than 1,800 species, connecting with thousands of conservationists and allies worldwide.

Alongside its core small-grant portfolio, the Fund also manages larger collaborative initiatives and corporate partnerships that target specific species groups—such as dugongs and seagrass ecosystems—or support young conservation leaders from developing countries. Through these combined activities, the MBZ Fund plays a significant role in channeling philanthropic capital to high-impact, field-based biodiversity conservation around the globe.

The Fund is guided by an independent Advisory Board of specialists who help review proposals and set priorities, reinforcing scientific credibility. Application criteria, funding limits, timelines and the overall review process are openly described on the website, and numerous case studies of funded projects are published by taxonomic group. This transparency, coupled with a long track record of grants and partnerships, positions the MBZ Fund as a key, trusted actor in international species conservation finance.