Indo-German Biodiversity Programme
Conservation and Sustainable Management of Existing and Potential Coastal and Marine Protected Areas
(CMPA)
Conservation of Coastal and Marine Biodiversity in India
Support for Targeted Research
Call for Concept Notes
PART A: Information for applicants
1 Introduction
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, has entered into a Technical
Cooperation Project on “Conservation and Sustainable Management of Existing and Potential
Coastal and Marine Protected Areas” (CMPA) The CMPA project is supported by the German Federal
Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), and jointly
implemented by the MoEF and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The overall objective of the project is to achieve improved management of selected existing and
potential coastal and marine protected areas, leading to improvement of biodiversity and the
living conditions of the local population.
To achieve this, the CMPA project expects to achieve three main outputs by the end of the project:
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Output-I:
Design and introduction of approaches in the participatory management of
areas designated for the conservation of biodiversity.
Output-II:
Development of capacity strengthening systems for supporting participatory
management of protected areas in selected states and at the national level.
Output-III:
Development and dissemination of information, education and
communication content for awareness raising, public relations and policy dialogues.
To further strengthen its knowledge base, and based on recommendations made by its Scientific and
Technical Advisory Group (STAG) the project seeks to support dedicated research programs in the
field of the following subject areas:
1. Socio-ecological resilience of coastal ecosystems
(viz. coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass, etc.);
2. Effectiveness of managed marine and coastal areas
(conservation of ecosystems, supporting livelihoods);
3. Marine invasive species
(modelling the distribution, ecological and/or economic impact);
4. Keystone Marine Species
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2 Eligibility
Academic and research institutes, non-governmental organizations and individual experts are
eligible to submit project proposals. Only Indian nationals will be eligible to apply. The project
proposals need to address one of the subject areas listed above. The intended project period shall
not exceed two years.
3 Selection process
3.1 Expression of interest
Interested parties are invited to submit a Concept Note – Expression of interest using PART B of the
current document. The Concept Note shall supply the following information:
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Subject area, to which the proposed study contributes
Title of the study
Name of the author(s)
Complete address of the lead author
Other contact information of the lead author
Duration
Estimated total budget
Objectives and summary of the expected results
Short outline of the methodology of the proposed study
The submitted Concept Notes will be screened by the STAG according to the criteria listed below and
selected applicants will be invited to develop a detailed study proposal.
3.2 Submission of a Full Project Proposal
Applicants, whose concept note has been selected by the STAG for further consideration, will be
invited to submit, in due time, a Full Project Proposal with a detailed description of the intended
field work – if any –, the method of analysis to be applied, and the expected outcomes, accompanied
by a timetable and an itemised budget.
4 Screening Criteria
Concept notes and full project proposals will be appraised along the following criteria:
4.1 Evaluation of Concept Notes:
Relevance
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with respect to the subject areas detailed in the call for proposal;
with respect to the innovative approach in addressing biodiversity issues in the coastal and
marine environment of India;
with respect to contributing to the policy dialogue on issues related to a balanced approach
to the utilisation and conservation of coastal and marine resources in India.
Scientific excellence
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Scientific quality of the proposed study;
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Clarity of the objective, hypothesis and/or research questions;
Quality and suitability of the research team;
Level of inter/multi-disciplinarily approach.
4.2 Evaluation of Full Project Proposals
The detailed research proposals will be screened by the STAG according to the criteria applied to the
Concept Notes and – additionally – to the criteria listed below. The final approval will be by a
Steering Committee constituted by the Ministry for the Project.
Feasibility and risks
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Existence of achievable targets/milestones and well defined outputs;
Realistic estimate of the required time to achieve the intended results;
Institutional capacity and support available to the proponents;
Cost effectiveness
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Completeness of the budget requirements provided;
Relationship cost/benefit.
5 How to apply
The Concept Note has to be submitted by using PART B the current document in the predefined
format provided hereunder.
Please provide all requested information in the corresponding fields in this application form. You can
either type in the information directly or transfer it from another document by using Word’s “copy &
paste” features (text only). When copying text from another document, you should be aware of the
limitations in the number of characters in some of the fields. Text exceeding the predefined limits
will automatically be truncated after it has reached the limit in number of characters.
Once you have filled in the form you are required to save the document under a different file name
and then send it by e-mail not later than midnight on 15 May 2014 to the following address:
biodiv.india@giz.de
The Concept Note must be accompanied by the scan of a letter of support from the host institution/
organization endorsing that all institutional support, facilities and amenities shall be extended to the
investigators for successful implementation of the project.
Please note: Only Concept Notes making use of PART B of this document will be accepted.
Submission of a Concept Note in another document will automatically lead to the exclusion of the
proposal from any further evaluation.
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Conservation of Coastal and Marine Biodiversity in India
Support for Targeted Research
Call for Concept Notes
PART B: Application Form
1 General information
Subject area, to which the proposed
study contributes
Select a subject from the following list:
Socio-ecological resilience of coastal ecosystems
Title of the study
Name of the author(s)
Complete address of the lead author
Other contact information of the lead
author (e-mail, mobile no.)
Duration of the suggested project (no
of months)
Estimated total budget of the
suggested research project (in Rupees)
INR
2 Objectives and summary of expected results
(Maximum 1000 characters or approx. 200 words)
Page | 1
3 Short outline of the methodology of the proposed study
(Maximum 6000 characters or approx. 1000 words)
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