ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON
CONSERVATION EXPEDITIONS
Application Guidelines 2011
Please return your application form by 28 February 2011 to:
Conservation Programmes (Jane Loveless)
Zoological Society of London
Regent’s Park
London NW1 4RY
T:
F:
E:
+44 (0) 20 7449 6304
+44 (0) 20 7483 4436
jane.loveless@zsl.org
1. AIM
The intention is to contribute funds for short field expeditions (maximum 3
months) that carry out surveys to gather information to address a field
conservation question. The conservation question should focus on
threatened or potentially threatened poorly-known species or habitats
currently receiving little or no conservation attention. The study should build
on existing knowledge and must provide new information essential for
conservation decision-making. For example, expeditions might gather new
information on dominant threat processes or provide new insight into species’
distribution, abundance or ecology. Priority will be given to proposals that
complement ZSL’s on-going conservation initiatives – see
www.zsl.org/Conservation.
.
Efforts should be made to support capacity building for conservation in the
host country – for example through training, providing equipment and
technical literature, or supporting local research and conservationists/
students.
2. SELECTION CRITERIA
2.1 Eligibility
Applicants should be over 20 years of age, and preference will be given to
teams (3+ people) rather than individuals. There is a preference to support
undergraduate/postgraduate expeditions. Applicants should be resident in the
UK, or registered at a UK university or college. Full-time IoZ students and
ZSL staff are not eligible to apply.
2.2 Feasibility
Expeditions must have a clear aim as to what can be achieved within the
timeframe and resources of the proposed expedition. These resources will
include the experience of expedition members, the careful planning of the
expedition, as well as sufficient financial resources (individuals should
contribute £300+).
In preparation, expeditions should consult the RGS-IBG Expedition Advisory
Centre (www.rgs.org/eac) and other organizations (eg, WEXAS) – see section
8 of this form. They should carry out a risk assessment and have appropriate
insurance; ZSL accepts no legal, financial or moral liability for expeditions to
which it grants funds.
2.3 Destination Country
Expeditions should be outside Western Europe and North America. The
applicants must show that they have obtained the required permission from
the appropriate government department (eg, research permits, permission to
work in national parks, forest reserves etc), as well as immigration formalities.
Letters of permission from national institutions need to be shown.
Preference will be given to expeditions that have collaborating members from
local institutions. This could include students from local universities and/or
staff from natural resources management institutions (eg, national
parks/wildlife/forestry/fisheries personnel).
Projects should show an awareness of environmental and cultural
responsibility, and wherever possible minimise or mitigate the effects of their
activities on their environment.
3. FINANCE
The expedition’s budget should be realistic and attainable. Financial
contributions by individual members must be adequate, especially in relation
to the proposed transport costs. The average personal contribution should be
at least £300 for students and £500+ for other team members.
If the study is leading to the completion of a PhD/MSc, the application should
detail the major source of funding and whether this includes support for
fieldwork. Projects funded by public research councils (eg, NERC/SERC) will
rarely be supported, and fieldwork for higher degrees (eg, PhD, MPhil, etc)
will only be supported where no provision has been made by the major
funding source. An example of this might be a postgraduate student wishing
to lead a group of undergraduate students undertaking field research linked to
his/her research topic.
4. ZSL SUPPORT
The Society gives financial support to research teams that it has approved
based on the above criteria. Grants available are up to £2,000. Successful
applicants will receive 90% of the funds prior to commencement of their
expedition, and the final 10% following submission of their final report.
5. PROCEDURE
a. Forms
An application form may be downloaded from the Society’s website at
www.zsl.org or can be obtained from Conservation Programmes at the
Society. All questions should be answered fully within the available space.
The application form must be typed or word processed and must follow the
page layout. Please ensure a clear and concise map of the expedition area is
attached to the front of the application form (maximum A4 size).
Do not staple or bind the application form. By all means submit brochures or
other supporting material with your application; however only the application
form itself will be copied to a panel of advisors who will be assessing your
project. As your application will be photocopied, you should not use images
or detailed coloured maps
b. Referee Statements
Two referee statements are required for each application: one normally from a
university academic and the other from an appropriate contact in the host
country. Referees should not be members of the research team, nor be
directly involved in the planning of the research programme. Failure to provide
both references will jeopardise your application.
c. Closing Dates
Application forms must be returned by 28 February 2011 for expedition teams
planning to be in the field during the summer or autumn of 2011 or in winter or
spring 2012. All grant submissions will be acknowledged. Please quote the
reference number provided with your acknowledgement in all subsequent
correspondence.
d. Interviews
All expedition proposals are assessed on the basis of their application form
and references by the Society’s Conservation Expeditions panel. Some
applicants will also be called for interview by end-March 2011. Not being
invited for interview does not necessarily reduce a team’s chance of obtaining
approval or support. All undergraduate teams will be interviewed if possible.
You may be contacted by telephone or email if further information or
clarification of your application is required.
e. Notification
All applicants will be notified of the Committee’s decision by mid to end-April
2011.
f. Data Protection Act 1984
Research teams are asked to indicate if they object to their details being held
on a computer database and released to interested parties such as grant
donors, planners and the media - for example, a press release is issued each
year, listing all approved research projects.
6. CHANGE OF PLANS or ABANDONMENT
Project leaders should submit a final list of team members to the Society
before departure. If other changes of plan do occur, as is sometimes
inevitable, the Society should be informed immediately. The same applies to
any significant change in the budget, programme of travel or fieldwork. If this
is not done before the group departs, the Society may withdraw its
financial support. Leaders of projects which for any reason have to be
abandoned or postponed must inform the Society straight away. Any grants
received from the Society should be returned to Jane Loveless, with a
covering letter to explain the circumstances.
7. REPORT FOLLOW-UP BY APPROVED RESEARCH TEAMS
a. Reports
All approved conservation expeditions should submit a preliminary report
(c.1,000 words) to the Society within one month of their return to the UK. The
final report should be delivered to Conservation Programmes within 6 months
of return. Those who fail to produce a report will not receive the remaining
10%. A Guide to Writing Expedition Reports is available or can be
downloaded from the EAC website.
b. Maps and Photographs
The Society welcomes offers of donations of books, maps and images. These
enhance the collections, especially if the items are not easy to obtain.
c. All recipients of the award are required to provide ZSL with 5 blogs with
project updates from the field when feasible. Those who fail to produce the
blogs will not receive the remaining 10%.
d. All recipients are expected to be available to give a presentation at the
Zoological Society of London following the expedition.
8. RGS EXPEDITION ADVISORY CENTRE
The Expedition Advisory Centre is part of the Royal Geographic Society's
Expeditions and Fieldwork Division. The Centre provides information, advice
and training to anyone planning overseas fieldwork. Teams are strongly
advised to contact the EAC at an early stage in their planning, since they can
advise on other sources of funding (eg, the booklet Fundraising and
Budgeting for Field Research and Expeditions - which includes a directory of
grant giving organisations (£2.50 from the EAC or available free of charge on
www.rgs.org/eacpubs). Full details of the services of the EAC are available on
the website (www.rgs.org/eac).
Revised October 2010