The Hifadhi Blu Programme \u2014 a collaborative funding initiative by the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), Advanced Conservation Strategies (ACS), WIOMPAN, and the Minderoo Foundation \u2014 has announced a new funding opportunity for marine conservation organisations in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.<\/p>\n
This call invites motivation letters from organisations dedicated to improving the effectiveness, governance, and sustainability of Marine Conservation Areas (MCAs) \u2014 including Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs), and co-managed areas formally recognised by competent authorities.<\/p>\n
The Hifadhi Blu Programme aims to strengthen the management effectiveness of Marine and Coastal Conservation Areas by addressing key challenges such as:<\/p>\n
Through targeted funding and capacity development, the programme supports realistic and catalytic interventions that foster long-term conservation impact, institutional ownership, and community legitimacy.<\/p>\n
Projects should directly enhance site-level management effectiveness with clear alignment to the site\u2019s management plan or diagnostic tools such as the IMET baseline.<\/p>\n
Priority will be given to proposals that:<\/p>\n
Applicants must have a legal or community-based mandate to manage a defined marine or coastal site. Eligible entities include:<\/p>\n
Applicants should demonstrate a clear commitment to sustainability, gender inclusion, and collaborative management.<\/p>\n
Each selected project will receive up to USD 200,000<\/strong> over a two-year period (2026\u20132028)<\/strong>. Budget allocations should prioritise site-level management activities, with reasonable provisions for staff, technical support, and equipment.<\/p>\n Organisations from the following Western Indian Ocean<\/strong> countries are eligible to apply: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, R\u00e9union, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania.<\/strong><\/p>\n Applicants are invited to submit concise motivation letters (2\u20133 pages)<\/strong> in English, French, or Portuguese<\/strong>, outlining:<\/p>\n Letters should be submitted through WIOMSA Proposal Central<\/strong> by\u00a029 November 2025, 11:59 PM EAT.<\/strong><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Register and Apply via WIOMSA Proposal Central<\/strong><\/a> For inquiries, contact: The Hifadhi Blu Programme \u2014 a collaborative funding initiative by the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), Advanced Conservation Strategies (ACS), WIOMPAN, and the Minderoo Foundation \u2014 has announced a new funding opportunity for marine conservation organisations in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. This call invites motivation letters from organisations dedicated to improving…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,45],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-66528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-africa","8":"category-grants","9":"article","10":"","12":"has-excerpt","13":"has-avatar","14":"has-author","15":"has-nickname","16":"has-date","17":"has-comment-count","18":"has-category-meta","19":"has-read-more","20":"has-title","21":"has-post-media","22":"thumbnail-","23":"has-tfm-share-icons"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunitiesconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFunding will be disbursed in two tranches, contingent on satisfactory Year 1 performance.
\nA total of eight sites<\/strong> will be selected for this funding round.<\/p>\n
\nEligible Countries<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nApplication Process<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
\n(Applicants must create a profile if applying for the first time.<\/em>)<\/p>\n
\n\ud83d\udce7 secretary@wiomsa.org<\/a><\/strong> or deidre@wiomsa.org<\/a><\/strong> (subject line: Hifadhi Blu<\/em>).
\nFor full details, download the Call for Motivation Letters<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"