nofa-lac12 society mtg 2012-final.pdf

OMB No. 1018-0123 Expiration: 09/30/2014

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Division of International Conservation Wildlife Without Borders Programs

Notice of Funding Availability &Application Instructions Fiscal Year 2012

Funding Opportunity Title: FWS-DIC-WWB-LAC2012

Announcement Type: New Applications Funding Opportunity Number: FWS-DIC-WWB-LAC2012

Submission Deadline: April 30th

Wildlife Without Borders – Latin America and the Caribbean

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA):15.640

Failure to provide complete information, as outlined below, may cause delays, postponement, or rejection of a grant application.

Agency Contact

Ani Cuevas U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of International Conservation Branch of Latin America & the Caribbean 4401 North Fairfax Dr., MS 100 Arlington, VA22203-1622 Tel: 703-358-1950 Fax: 703-358-2115 E-mail:Ani_Cuevas@fws.gov

I. DESCRIPTION OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

The Wildlife Without Borders-Latin America and the Caribbean Program (WWB-LAC) funds projects designed to strengthen the ability of Latin American and Caribbean institutions to manage and conserve species, habitats, and ecological processes for the benefit of the people of the Americas and the world.

Of particular interest are projects that build the human and institutional capacity to effectively conserve and manage biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean through a holistic and inter-disciplinary approach with a primary emphasis on the social context.

In November 2009, the WWB-LAC Program held a workshop in Nicaragua to lay the foundation for a new initiative to develop a model program to train highly effective future conservation professionals through an interdisciplinary, holistic approach to resource management and conservation adapted to the complexities of modern society and the interconnectedness of the landscapes upon which society depends.

(The workshop proceedings can be found at http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/regional%20programs/lac/lac.html). The model training program initiative will be funded under a separate Notice of Funding Availability, which can be found on the same web site as the workshop proceedings.

The WWB-LAC Program is now soliciting proposals to support the organization and implementation of a follow-up meeting in Latin America to explore the possibility of creating a new regional society of current conservation professionals who embrace the importance of emphasizing the social context of biodiversity conservation. The proposed time for the meeting is September 2012.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

The funding for the meeting will be awarded through a cooperative agreement and substantive involvement by the USFWS should be expected. The recipient will work closely with the WWB-LAC Program on all aspects of the planning and implementation of the meeting and will serve as the point of contact for WWB-LAC for all logistical aspects of the meeting, including the meeting location, venue, dates, and participant travel and lodging for up to 80 people. The meeting participants, agenda, and format will be determined by the WWB-LAC Program. A detailed scope of work and budget (including administrative costs) will be negotiated between the recipient and the WWB-LAC Program based on the proposal that is funded.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Eligible Applicants: Applicants under this program can be: individuals; multi-national secretariats, federal, state and local government agencies; non-profit, non-governmental organizations; and public and private institutions of higher education. U.S. non-profit, non-governmental organizations must submit documentary evidence of their Section 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Ineligible Activities: The Division of International Conservation will not fund:

• the purchase of firearms or ammunitions;

• buying intelligence information or paying informants;

• gathering information by persons who conceal their true identity;

• law enforcement operations that, to arrest suspects, prompt them to carry out illegal activities

(entrapment);

http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/regional%20programs/lac/lac.html

• any activity that would circumvent sanctions, laws, or regulations of either the U.S. or the country of proposed activity;

• material support or resources to individuals, entities, or organizations of countries that the U.S.

Department of State has identified as state sponsors of terrorism. These countries are: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. (Exceptions may be allowed with clearance from U.S. Department of State)

Applicant and Partner Contributions: Applicants and/or other project partners must contribute funds to the project, which may include cash or in-kind contributions. Applicant and partner contributions cannot be included as contributions for any other federally assisted project or program. Funds provided by another U.S. Federal Government agency or another USFWS award cannot be reported as matching contributions, but should be noted and explained in detail. Only verifiable contributions should be included as a match. A match shown during one year may not be repeated as a match in a subsequent proposal.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Failure to provide complete information, as outlined below, may cause delays, postponement, or rejection of a grant application.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: April 30th is the deadline for applications. A confirmation e-mail will be sent out to applicants once their submission has been received.

APPLICATION FORMAT AND CONTENT: You may submit your proposal in English or Spanish.(If you submit your proposal in Spanish, please be sure to include a one-page Project summary in English.) Proposals should not exceed 12 pages (i.e., application cover page, project summary, and project narrative.) Attachments (including budget, government letters of endorsement, maps, and bios) should be submitted in addition to the 12 pages.

Your proposal should include these elements:

A. Application Cover Page Complete the Application Cover Page located at http://www.fws.gov/international/dic/pdf/Cover_Page.pdf according to the instructions on page 3 of the form.

B. Project Narrative

1. Project Statement: This section should provide a clear justification of why your organization is best suited to organize and implement the follow-up meeting under this funding opportunity. It is important to include information regarding past experience in organizing international meetings, description of the proposed meeting location and possible venues, and ability to contract a reliable travel agent to assist with participant travel arrangements.

2. Project Timetable: Include a timetable indicating roughly when activities or project milestones will be accomplished. Any tables, spreadsheets, or flowcharts should appear within the body of the narrative (do not include separate attachments). The timetable should not propose specific dates, but instead group activities for each month over the project period. To view a sample project timetable go to: http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/pdf/Sample_timetable.pdf

3. Description of Organization(s) Undertaking the Project: This section should answer the question, “Who are you?” Provide a brief description of the applicant organization and all http://www.fws.gov/international/dic/pdf/Cover_Page.pdf http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/pdf/Sample_timetable.pdf cooperating organizations and agencies. State the activity for which each group or individual is responsible. Provide brief (1-2 paragraph) bio (curricula vitae) describing the experience and abilities of key personnel, identifying their qualifications to meet the project objectives. DO NOT include Social Security numbers, photos, the names of family members, or any other personal or sensitive information including marital status, religion, or physical characteristics.

4. Project Budget Table

Things to consider when developing your Budget Table:

• Federally Funded Equipment: If the U.S. Federal Government has paid for equipment for another award, applicants cannot claim it to be a matching or in-kind contribution and SHOULD NOT include it in the budget table. Instead, provide a separate list of any equipment paid for by the U.S. Federal Government that will be used for the project, including the name of the Federal agency that paid for the equipment.

• Indirect Costs: Applicants with Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRA) must include a copy with their proposal.

• Program Income: Your project may include activities that will generate program income.

Program income earned as a result of activities supported with Federal funding includes, but is not limited to, the following: income from fees for services, the use or rental of property, the sale of commodities or fabricated items, license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights, and interest on loans. Program income does not include interest earned on advances of Federal funds. Under this Fund, income earned during the project period of an approved award shall be retained by the recipient and used in at least one of the following ways:

1. added to the funds requested from the USFWS for the project in addition to those committed by the recipient/other partners, and later used to conduct additional activities that will further the project objectives (if the additional activities are outside the original scope of the project you must notify the USFWS Project Officer before the activities are conducted) ; OR

2. used to finance the non-Federal share of the project.

If your project will generate program income, provide: (1) a description of how the income will be generated, (2) an estimate of how much income will be made during the project duration, and (3) a description of how the funds will be used. If the income is to be used to conduct additional activities, you must include a Program Income column in your budget table and include all cost categories/items and associated amounts that the program income will cover.

Instructions for Budget Table:

Begin your project budget table on a new page. The budget table should include a column for all cost categories/items for the project, one column to show the cost calculation, a column for the total costs, one column for the requested USFWS funding, one or more columns for applicant and partner contributions, and, if applicable, a column for any program income that will be used to conduct project activities, as demonstrated here:

Category/ Budget Item**

Cost Calculation*

TOTAL

COST

USFWS “Applicant” “Partner X”

“Partner Y”

Program Income (if applicable)

Totals

*Present all amounts in U.S. dollars

**We cannot accept the term “contingencies” in the budget as a line item Go to http://www.fws.gov/international/dicprograms/Sample%20Budget.pdf to view a sample project budget table.

The budget table should provide enough information for reviewers to be able to understand the cost basis and calculation at a glance. For example, a $3,300 line item for lodging costs should include the formula for how the cost was calculated: Lodging for 20 nights x 11 people x $15/night = $3,300. Wherever possible, cost calculations should be included in the Project Budget Table, but where necessary, additional description should be provided in the Budget Justifications. If the budget table requires more than one page, verify that column headings and row titles appear on all pages.

5. Budget Justifications: Justify or explain all requested budget items/costs. Demonstrate a clear connection to project activities, and show how line item amounts were determined. For expensive items or large single purchases, provide detailed technical specifications or a pro-forma invoice.

Requests for personnel salary should be well documented, including the base-line salary figure and the estimate of time (percent) to be directly charged to the project. Assistance to cover personnel salaries is generally given a lower priority.

6. Map: This section should answer the question, “Where is this project located?” Provide a map showing the location of your project site at the regional or national level. Ensure that the sites that you have referred to in the proposal are labeled on the map.

Provide the latitude and longitude coordinates of a representative geographic location for your project in decimal degrees format (NOT degree-minute-seconds format). For example, USFWS in Arlington, Virginia, USA, would be provided as 38.8825°, -77.1145° (latitude, longitude). Please correctly enter north and east coordinates as positive values, and south and west coordinates as negative values.

1. PROPOSAL APPLICATION CHECKLIST

ALL PROPOSALS MUST INCLUDE:

□ Signed Grant Application Cover Page (MUST be signed by authorized representative)

□ DUNS Number

□ Project Summary (1 page, if applicable)

□ Project Narrative

□ Timetable

□ Budget Table

□ Budget Justification

□ Curricula vitae (1-2 pages) for key personnel

□ Map

□ Audit Report (Only necessary if your organization has expended more than $500,000 of Federal assistance per year. For more information go to: http://harvester.census.gov/sac/)

PROPOSALS FROM U.S. APPLICANTS MUST ALSO INCLUDE:

□ A complete, signed Standard Form 424-Application for Federal Assistance http://www.fws.gov/international/DICprograms/sf%20424.pdf

□ A complete Standard Form 424b-Assurances http://www.fws.gov/international/DICprograms/sf%20424b.pdf http://www.fws.gov/international/dicprograms/Sample%20Budget.pdf http://www.fws.gov/international/DICprograms/sf%20424.pdf http://www.fws.gov/international/DICprograms/sf%20424b.pdf

□ Documentary evidence of Section 501(c)(3) non-profit status, if applicable

□ A copy of your organization’s Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, if applicable

2. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. REGISTRATION: Before submitting a proposal, you must be registered in the following databases:

• Dun and Bradstreet Number System (DUNS)

• Central Contractor Registration Database (CCR)

• Grants.gov (Domestic applicants only)

Dun & Bradstreet Universal Number System (DUNS): U.S. Government-wide policy requires that all applicants, organizations and individuals, both domestic and non-domestic, apply for, and include, a nine-digit Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Number System (DUNS) on their proposal. Applicants without a DUNS number should go to http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. Applicants who already have a DUNS number are responsible for updating changes to their address or business name with Dun and Bradstreet directly. The organizational address (Grant Administrator) must match the address in Dun & Bradstreet’s system.

Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Database: All domestic and most foreign applicants MUST be registered in the CCR database to apply for funding. Exceptions are: 1) all individuals; 2) all Federal agencies; 3) foreign applicants submitting a proposal for less than $25,000. CCR is used by the U.S. government as the repository for standard information about applicants and recipients of federal funds. Recipients must maintain an active CCR registration with current information at all times during the project period.

Domestic registrants go to: http://www.ccr.gov (click on “What you need to Register”) Non-Domestic registrants go to: https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/international.aspx

Grants.gov:

Domestic Applicants: MUST apply through Grants.gov. If you do not have an account, you must register. Go to: http://www.Grants.gov/Get Registered It may take up to three weeks to complete the Grants.gov registration.

B. SUBMISSION

Domestic Applicants: You must apply through Grants.gov. Your entire proposal including the cover page MUST be uploaded as a SINGLE pdf file. Attach your file on the Attachment Form. For further instructions, see above.

Non-Domestic Applicants: May submit through Grants.gov or e-mail Grants.gov: See above E-mail: All documents must be printable on letter paper (8 ½” x 11”). Format all pages to display and print page numbers. We prefer to receive the entire proposal as a SINGLE file attachment. If you need to submit separate attachments please try to send them all together in a single e-mail message. If your files are too big for a single e-mail, please number your e-mails and attachments so that we know the order of your submissions.

E-mail your proposal to the USFWS at WWB_LAC @fws.gov

V. APPLICATION REVIEW

http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform http://www.ccr.gov/ https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/international.aspx http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp mailto:MSCF_AsianElephant@fws.gov

The USFWS may solicit advice from qualified experts to conduct a technical review of your proposed project. The USFWS may also discuss your proposal with known past and present partners to reduce the potential for waste, fraud and abuse and to encourage coordination and collaboration among projects on the ground.

Review Criteria: Proposals for this funding opportunity will be ranked based on the justification provided in the project narrative and the cost effectiveness of the budget items. Recipient must have a positive track record with USFWS based on previous grant support, if applicable.

Following review, applicants may be asked to revise the project plan and/or budget before a final funding decision can be made.

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION

Award Notices: Successful applicants will be e-mailed a written notice in the form of an Assistance Award document, along with an enrollment form for the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) for their banking information. Applicants whose projects are not selected for funding will receive an e-mail notice within 180 days of their proposal submission.

Administrative and National Policy Requirements: Go to http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/pdf/aag.pdfto review the Division of International Conservation’s Assistance Award Guidelines, which details the policies, terms, and conditions applicable to awards made under this program.

Please note that all payments made to domestic recipients after September 30, 2011 will be through Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP).

Domestic registrants: Payments will be issued through U.S. Department of Treasury via the self-initiated electronic drawdown system, Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP). To view instructions and initiate ASAP enrollment, go to: http://www.fws.gov/fbms/

Non-Domestic registrants: Please refer to the payment instructions provided in your Award announcement email.

Reporting: The standard reporting requirements are:

Mid-Term: a performance report, which includes an executive summary no longer than one page and a financial status report, due 30 days after the first half of the project period; and Final: a performance report, which includes an executive summary no longer than one page, a financial status report, and copies of all deliverables and products resulting from the project, including photographic documentation of project activities, due within 90 days of the end of the project period. The final report should include all of the activities undertaken during the project period, not simply activities carried out following the mid-term report.

The above reporting requirements will apply to all awards unless otherwise indicated in the Scope of Work section of the award document. Requirements for more frequent reporting will be at the discretion of the USFWS Program Officer and may be modified by the USFWS Program Officer during the project period. See the Division of International Conservation’s Assistance Award Guidelines document at http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/pdf/aag.pdffor additional reporting information.

Branding: All materials (presentations, reports, large equipment purchases, infrastructure, awards, and other items as deemed relevant) produced under any award intended for distribution must acknowledge the support of USFWS by showing the USFWS logo. Photo-ready and vector format logos are available upon request from the USFWS Program Officer.

http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/pdf/aag.pdf http://www.fws.gov/fbms/ http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/pdf/aag.pdf

VII. AGENCY CONTACT

Ani Cuevas U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of International Conservation Branch of Latin America & the Caribbean 4401 North Fairfax Dr., MS 100 Arlington, VA 22203-1622 Tel: 703-358-1950 Fax: 703-358-2115 E-mail: Ani_Cuevas@fws.gov

VIII. RELATED PROGRAMS

CFDA 15.635 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund CFDA 15.641Wildlife Without Borders-Mexico Program CFDA 15.645 Marine Turtle Conservation Fund

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT: The Paperwork Reduction Act requires us to tell you why we are collecting this information, how we will use it, and whether or not you have to respond. Your response is required to receive funding. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. We estimate that it will take an average of 22 hours to complete the application and 40 hours to complete a report. These burden estimates include time for reviewing instructions and gathering data.

OMB has approved this collection and assigned OMB Control No. 1018-0123, which expires 05/31/2011. The burden estimates do not include the time needed to complete Standard Forms associated with the application and financial reports. You may send comments concerning the burden estimates or any aspect of this information collection to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Mailstop 222, Arlington, VA 22203.

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