Criteria and Procedure for Bio-Bridge Initiative Projects

Current Call

Kindly note that the fifth call for proposals, which deadline was 22 March 2024, is now closed. For further information, please refer to Notification 2024-001 and Notification 2024-021.

Purpose

As part of its mandate to catalyze and facilitate technical and scientific cooperation, the Bio-Bridge Initiative (BBI) currently provides seed funding of up to USD $20,000 to incubate projects and partnerships that promote exemplary approaches, particularly through South-South and triangular cooperation, to address biodiversity-related issues and challenges, and showcase good practices and lessons learned.

Who Can Apply

The following institutions are eligible to apply for seed funding support:

• Relevant governmental agencies, research and academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations in developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition;
• Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities;

Eligible cooperation proposals must involve project partners and/or technical assistance providers from at least two or more countries.

For proposals submitted by multiple Parties or organizations, one contact person shall be nominated for any future correspondence before official submission to BBI. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their CBD National Focal Points prior to submitting their proposals to avoid multiple proposals on the same topic from the same country and to promote stronger collaboration and alignment with national priorities.

It is anticipated that funding will be provided directly to the entities providing the service(s) required to effectively respond to the need(s) articulated in the proposal.

Project Selection Criteria

The Bio-Bridge Initiative has developed a three-step process and corresponding selection criteria to facilitate a robust and transparent assessment of the project proposals submitted.

The selection criteria used  at the three stages of assessment are designed to, inter alia, help:

• Identify project proposals that are in line with the BBI mission, objectives and principles and thus eligible for consideration under the Initiative (Eligibility Assessment Stage);
• Ensure that high quality proposals are prioritized (Quality Assessment Stage); and
• Identify proposals with greatest potential to produce concrete impactful outcomes (Technical Assessment Phase).

Project Selection Procedure

Requesting institutions from eligible Parties must fill out the Seed Funding Proposal Form (bbi-funding-proposal-form-2024.docx) and send it by e-mail to the Bio-Bridge Initiative at this address: bbiproposals@cbd.int before the deadline specified in the notification.

• Step 1: Eligibility Assessment Stage: The help desk screens all submitted proposals against the eligibility criteria to determine whether or not they are in line with Bio-Bridge mission, objectives and principles. A proposal must meet all the eligibility criteria in order to be accepted for further consideration under the Initiative. Ineligible proposals will not be considered further in the process.
• Step 2: Quality Assessment Stage: The help desk reviews the proposals deemed eligible and scores from them against the second set of criteria. Only proposals with a final score of 80% or higher are submitted to the Project Review Panel for the third and final assessment step. While proposals with a score below 80% will not be considered further, the help desk may follow up with their proponents to register them as requests for assistance on the Bio-Bridge web platform for possible matchmaking.
• Step 3: Technical Assessment Stage: Selected proposals are submitted to the members of the Project Review Panel (PRP), who provide a third review and assign scores from 0 to 5 against the third set of agreed upon criteria. The helpdesk computes the average scores and summarizes any comments received from PRP members. 

The final selection of proposals to receive seed funding rests with the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity who reviews the shortlist provided by the Project Review Panel and makes a determination based on resources available, regional and thematic balance, among other considerations.