The European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) provides grants of up to 30,000 euros to non-profit organizations for conservation projects that benefit biodiversity in wild landscapes, including marine environments. Projects must conserve, protect, enhance, restore, or reconnect habitats important for biodiversity while addressing climate change through carbon sequestration, emissions reduction, or climate adaptation.

EOCA also prioritizes community benefit, including local stewardship, poverty alleviation, and reconnecting people with nature. Applications go through a rigorous multi-stage selection process involving scientific adviser review, a public vote, and an EOCA members vote. EOCA now conducts one funding round per year each March, replacing the previous two-round schedule.

********We are now accepting applications for conservation project funding for up to €30 000********** The application DEADLINE is 31st March 2026 at 12 MIDNIGHT (BST) (GMT+1) / 1:00 CEST(GMT+2) NO applications will be accepted after this time. The ‘Short stage 1 Application Form’ can be downloaded HERE . Please note that you will receive an automated email to confirm safe receipt of your application.

If you do not receive this, please check your spam/junk folder before contacting us. If your application is to proceed further, we will contact you directly to complete a FULL application form. EOCA FUNDING APPLICATION WEBINAR: EOCA FUNDING APPLICATION WEBINAR: Missed our webinar on Thursday 12 March 2026?

You can watch the recording HERE . Changes to EOCA’s granting schedule: Following in-depth discussions with its board, and the upcoming requirement for companies to be reporting annually on their impacts on nature, EOCA has been considering how that might impact the timings of its project granting over the calendar year. To align with more formal reporting obligations, we are moving back to one funding round per year .

This means there will no longer be a funding round in November, and instead, the one funding round per year will be open for applications each March. Non-profit organisations can apply to EOCA for funding each Spring. All projects go through a rigorous selection process, being assessed against EOCA’s numerous funding criteria to provide a shortlist.

These projects then receive an in-depth review by our panel of scientific advisers, resulting in the final project shortlist. Which projects are selected for funding from this shortlist is decided through a Public Vote and an EOCA Members Vote. All nature lovers are invited to take part in the public vote , which is hosted on our website.

This involves some work by the project organisations included in the vote, to rally supporters to vote. It is also a great opportunity to raise awareness of their project and the conservation issue they are working to address. The EOCA members private vote involves member companies of EOCA voting to have their say in which other projects they would like to see being funded.

Please read Who Can Apply and Funding Criteria before applying. There is an increasing urgency and awareness of the double threat that our world currently faces: the loss of biodiversity and climate change. These two issues are intrinsically linked, and both are of enormous importance to wildlife, nature, people and the future of the planet.

From the highest mountains and the valleys between them, to streams, lakes and oceans, within these varied landscapes are many different ecosystems, each vital for biodiversity, mitigating against climate change, and for communities. These include alpine meadows, forests, peatlands, freshwater habitats, salt marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows, to name but a few. EOCA funds projects which benefit biodiversity in a wild landscape.

Our definition of ‘landscape’ includes marine environments, and a broad range of wild, non-urban spaces . Projects must conserve, protect, enhance, restore, and/or reconnect habitats within a given landscape that are particularly important for the biodiversity there. The biodiversity focus should also address the importance that EOCA places on the issue of climate change.

Projects should ensure that the habitats being conserved are those that sequester carbon, reduce emissions, enable adaptations to climate change, and/or protect against further habitat and biodiversity loss. It is also very important that the projects are beneficial to the local communities that live in, or near, these habitats.

Projects should highlight how they encourage local stewardship of habitats, alleviate poverty, support local ecosystem services, and help reconnect people with nature. Public Voting Terms & Conditions Policy for Project Complaints Conservation & the Outdoors Registered as a not-for-profit association in Kanton Zug, Switzerland Registration no. CH-170. 6.

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Manage {vendor_count} vendors The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.

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