Chickering Bog on the border of East Montpelier and Calais by James McNamara
The Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund will help conserve critical landscapes for habitat and climate resilience
Vermont Business Magazine On January 21, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont launched the Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund, a new grant program created to support land protection projects in priority regions across the state. This initiative will help fund projects that maintain regional forest connectivity, support biodiversity, and grow Vermont’s climate resilience. TNC is aiming to award $1 million in grant funding to projects in Vermont in the first year of this newly established fund.
Vermont is the crossroads for wildlife movement in the northern Appalachian Mountains. Our forests and rivers provide critical landscape corridors connecting habitats in the Eastern United States, which is increasingly important as wildlife and plants adapt to climate change and shift their ranges northward by 11 miles and upward in elevation by 33 feet each decade. Recognizing the need to protect biodiversity, the State of Vermont has established goals for protecting 30% of the state by 2030 and 50% by 2050, via Act 59, Vermont’s Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Law.
TNC is dedicated to protecting lands and waters to allow for species movement as our climate changes and helping Vermont meet its ambitious biodiversity protection and climate goals, which can only be accomplished by accelerating conservation through the concerted effort of the full conservation community in the state.
Eve Frankel, TNC Vermont State Director, emphasized the importance of this initiative: "We find ourselves in an 'all hands-on nature' moment. Recognizing the scale at which we need to work to solve for our biodiversity loss and climate change challenges, TNC created this grant program to better support conservation action to co-create a nature positive and climate resilient Vermont.”
Non-profits, municipalities, and state agencies can apply to the Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund for land acquisition and conservation easement projects. TNC will prioritize projects within TNC’s Resilient and Connected Network of lands, with a special focus on five critical landscapes, known as Focal Areas. These Focal Areas include the Green Mountains to Adirondacks, Southern Green Mountains to White Mountains, Worcester Range to Northeast Kingdom, Berkshire Wildlife Linkage, and Northern Mountains and Headwaters. The Focal Areas are identified on this map.
Grants will support projects that fall within these Focal Areas, with organizations able to apply for up to $100,000 per project, limited to two projects per year. Applications for the Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund will be accepted twice per year, with 2025 deadlines of March 14th and November 15th.
For more information on the Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund visit:
https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/vermont/stories-in-vermont/vermont-biodiversity-fund/
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We work in all 50 states and in over 65 countries. In Vermont, we have helped conserve over 300,000 acres of land, 2,000 miles of shoreline, and we own and manage 58 natural areas. To learn more and support our important work, please visit: www.nature.org/vermont
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