Combatting Wildlife Trafficking | F17AS00031

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00031

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), within the Department of the Interior, released the grant opportunity "Combatting Wildlife Trafficking" (Funding Opportunity Number F17AS00031) to fund projects that reduce poaching and illegal trade in protected or managed wildlife and plants. The program is framed around the U.S. government-wide push launched under Executive Order 13648 (2013) and the National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking Implementation Plan (released February 11, 2015). In this context, "wildlife trafficking" is treated broadly as the illegal taking of wildlife as well as illegal commerce in animals, plants, and their parts or products, covering both terrestrial and aquatic species. The overall goal is to complement existing domestic and international efforts by providing targeted financial assistance to projects that directly advance objectives in the Implementation Plan, with specific priority themes highlighted by USFWS.

Funding is offered through grants and cooperative agreements, and eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning proposals may come from a wide range of entity types as long as they meet any additional eligibility conditions contained in the full notice. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding, aligned with activity areas such as environment, natural resources, and community development, and is listed under CFDA 15.679. At the time of the posted notice, the award ceiling was $250,000 per award, with an estimated 20 awards anticipated. The original application closing date was February 5, 2017, indicating this particular notice was a time-bound cycle rather than an open-ended program.

USFWS indicates that applicants may propose work addressing any of the Implementation Plan objectives, but it signals that priority will be given to proposals in five key areas. First is strengthening CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is the main international treaty used to regulate cross-border wildlife trade to ensure it is legal and not harmful to species survival. Within this priority, USFWS is interested in two related tracks: (1) CITES capacity development, meaning practical investments that help key countries and regions implement CITES more effectively (such as improved permitting systems, compliance capacity, enforcement coordination tied to CITES requirements, or training and institutional support), and (2) support for implementing high-priority outcomes from CITES CoP17 (the 17th Conference of the Parties held in October 2016). The emphasis here is on providing technical and financial support to turn agreed CITES measures into real, operational changes, especially where those measures also advance the U.S. National Strategy objectives.

The second priority area focuses on good governance and anti-corruption as core enablers of effective wildlife law enforcement. USFWS highlights corruption as a frequent and major barrier that can undermine the entire chain of counter-trafficking action in supply, transit, and demand countries. Projects responsive to this priority would be those that increase transparency, reduce opportunities for bribery or abuse of authority, strengthen oversight and accountability, and generally improve governance practices tied to wildlife protection and enforcement. The underlying logic is that even well-designed enforcement or conservation interventions can fail when corruption blocks prosecutions, weakens inspections, compromises investigations, or allows trafficking networks to operate with impunity.

The third priority area is the "Africa/Asia nexus," reflecting the reality that many trafficking networks are transnational and move wildlife products across multiple borders and regions. USFWS notes that significant investments have already gone into building enforcement capacity in individual African and Asian agencies, but that these efforts have not always translated into sustained cross-regional relationships and operational coordination. Proposals under this theme are expected to strengthen cooperation among African and Asian countries involved in transnational wildlife crime by improving information sharing, building durable professional networks, and connecting the right authorities across borders. The notice specifically points to stakeholders such as customs agencies, police, wildlife law enforcement officials, and CITES authorities, with the intent of improving both national and international investigative and enforcement outcomes that can disrupt trafficking networks rather than simply addressing isolated incidents.

The fourth priority area targets demand reduction and other critical leverage points through a social and behavior change communication framework. USFWS is looking for proposals that treat wildlife trafficking as partly a behavior-driven problem, where lasting progress depends on shifting decisions made by specific groups across the trafficking chain. While demand markets are often the focus, the notice also stresses stakeholders in transit and supply countries who may participate in illegal harvest or trade. Competitive proposals in this area are expected to be grounded in a clear theory of change supported by evidence, including a concrete explanation of what barriers prevent behavior change, what methods will be used to remove those barriers, and what realistic alternatives will be promoted. If an applicant does not yet have the necessary evidence base, the notice allows for applied research proposals designed to build a data-driven theory of change. Because award time and funding are limited, applicants are encouraged to show how their work fits into a broader program or how the data and learning from the award will support a pilot that can later be scaled or replicated.

The fifth priority area is conservation action for critically endangered species threatened primarily by illegal trade. USFWS encourages proposals that focus on species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, or species that can be shown to meet similar threat criteria. Species categorized as Data Deficient can also be eligible if the applicant can demonstrate urgent conservation need, while species listed as Extinct in the Wild are explicitly not eligible. An important program design detail is that USFWS gives priority to species that are not already eligible for funding under the Multinational Species Conservation Fund Programs, which cover high-profile taxa such as Asian and African elephants, all rhinoceros species, tigers, great apes including gorillas and chimpanzees (and bonobos), orangutans, all gibbons, and all marine turtles. For this priority, proposals should clearly concentrate on activities that directly address the illegal trade threat driving the species decline, rather than general conservation actions that are not linked to trafficking pressures.

Taken together, the opportunity is structured to fund practical, outcomes-oriented projects that either strengthen international regulatory and enforcement systems (especially CITES), address governance failures that enable trafficking (notably corruption), improve cross-border cooperation across Africa and Asia, reduce trafficking by shifting human behavior using evidence-based approaches, or deliver targeted interventions for imperiled species harmed by illegal trade, particularly those not already covered by other USFWS multinational species funds. The consistent thread across all priorities is an emphasis on implementation: building capacity, operationalizing international agreements, improving integrity and coordination in enforcement systems, and applying data-driven strategies that can be sustained or scaled beyond the life of a single grant.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the community development, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Combatting Wildlife Trafficking" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.679.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 23, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 05, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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