| The Open Space Institute (OSI) is delighted to announce the third grant and loan round for the Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund. OSI is accepting proposals through December 19th, 2022 for the Western/Central Pennsylvania and Cradle of Southern Appalachia Focus Areas. Through this Fund, OSI provides capital grants to conservation projects within the globally important Appalachian region that address both the biodiversity crises and climate change. The fund supports projects within specific focus areas, whose forests and wetlands provide climate resilient wildlife habitat and store and sequester significant atmospheric carbon. This work is made possible with a lead grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and with significant support from the Lyndhurst, Riverview and Tucker Foundations, an anonymous New England-based family foundation, William Penn Foundation, Footprint Foundation, and R.K. Mellon Foundation, as well as other foundations and individuals who understand the critical role that land protection plays in addressing the threats of climate change. OSI staff will be providing a free informational webinar on Tuesday, November 8th at 10:30 am EST. The webinar will cover the Fund’s guidelines and criteria, as well as review the application process. Please save the date and register here. Once registered you will receive a confirmation email with unique login link to join the session. In its first two rounds, the fund awarded grants to 24 projects from Tennessee to Maine that encompass 35,000 acres. To learn about the first projects to close that have conserved a total of 10,000 acres, as well as related climate work undertaken by the Open Space Institute, click here. OSI is committed to advancing land justice and equity in its grantmaking by supporting projects that benefit racially diverse and economically underserved communities, as well as supporting organizations that identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color led. To learn more about OSI’s commitment to equity and land justice, please read our equity values statement and a message from OSI’s CEO Kim Elliman. We encourage you to review the Request for Proposals, provide us with feedback, be in touch with questions, and share this information with your networks. On behalf of the OSI team, Peter Howell
Executive Vice President, Conservation Capital Program |
