F23AS00375 - Counter-Wildlife Crime Capacity Building and Policy Assessment in the Eastern Caribbean | F23AS00375

Opportunity Information: Apply for F23AS00375

F23AS00375 is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) International Affairs funding opportunity focused on reducing illegal wildlife trade by strengthening enforcement capacity and improving policy implementation in the Eastern Caribbean. The opportunity sits under the Service's broader Caribbean Program, which aims to conserve priority species, habitats, and ecological processes in a region known for high biodiversity and high levels of endemism. Because many islands host species found nowhere else, the Eastern Caribbean is especially vulnerable to pressures like habitat loss, invasive species, and poaching for the illegal pet trade. USFWS notes that trafficking of Eastern Caribbean species has increased in recent years, including online sales and movement into consumer markets such as Europe and the United States, creating an urgent need for better detection, investigation, and prosecution tools as well as stronger coordination among agencies and across borders.

The agency intends to make one award as an 18-month cooperative agreement, with an award ceiling of $600,000. A cooperative agreement signals that USFWS expects substantial involvement during the project period (for example, collaborating on technical direction, coordination, or deliverables), rather than simply issuing a hands-off grant. The activity area is Natural Resources (CFDA/Assistance Listing 15.640), and the project is being pursued in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), specifically USAID's Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI). The overarching emphasis is on addressing root causes of illegal wildlife trade by improving the ability of government agencies and personnel to protect biodiversity from poaching and trafficking.

At the center of the project is a capacity-building and policy-assessment approach aimed at law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and related government actors in five priority countries: Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Proposals are expected to work directly in these countries, and they receive priority consideration. Activities conducted in the United States are allowed only if the applicant clearly demonstrates how that work will produce direct, tangible conservation impact in the Caribbean region. The Service is specifically looking for a capable NGO that can design and deliver a professional-level hybrid training program (combining in-person and remote learning) suitable for law enforcement professionals with diverse roles and varying levels of education and experience. In addition to training delivery, applicants should be able to assess existing national policy gaps and identify opportunities to strengthen implementation of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in domestic frameworks.

The opportunity lays out three main objectives. First, it aims to strengthen the technical capacity of Eastern Caribbean law enforcement agencies to investigate, detect, and disrupt poaching and trafficking of endemic species. This implies practical skills development such as recognizing trafficked species, evidence handling, investigative techniques, case building, interdiction methods, and improving the likelihood that wildlife crime cases can be successfully prosecuted. Second, it seeks to increase the ability of targeted agencies to integrate international anti-wildlife crime approaches and conventions, including CITES, into national policies, strategies, and routine practices. This is about aligning domestic procedures and legal authorities with international standards so that enforcement agencies can act effectively and consistently. Third, it prioritizes improved inter-agency, national, and regional collaboration across the five countries, reflecting the reality that trafficking networks operate across jurisdictions and often require joint responses among customs, police, environmental authorities, prosecutors, and other stakeholders.

The expected outcomes are concrete and structured around both training and policy change. A key deliverable is implementation of a university-accredited course and training curricula for law enforcement professionals, indicating the program should be formalized and recognized rather than delivered as ad hoc workshops. The Service also expects strengthened collaboration at national, regional, and international levels, suggesting the project should build networks and coordination mechanisms that outlast the 18-month period. On the policy side, the project is expected to help close loopholes in counter-wildlife crime policy and enforcement implementation, which can include gaps in authorities, weak penalties, unclear mandates, limited enforcement protocols, or inconsistent application across agencies. Finally, the Service anticipates updates to national-level legislation related to illegal wildlife trade, meaning proposals should include a credible path to legal or regulatory reform or modernization, informed by the CITES implementation assessment and practical enforcement needs.

Eligibility is broad and geared toward institutions rather than individuals. Eligible applicants include multinational secretariats, foreign governments, U.S. and foreign nonprofits and NGOs, community and Indigenous organizations, and U.S. and foreign public or private institutions of higher education. Individuals are not eligible to apply. The notice also flags specific cost restrictions: it will not support tuition for individuals, and it will not fund field expenses associated with projects carried out in support of masters, doctoral, or post-doctoral research. In practical terms, the funding is meant for applied training, institutional capacity building, coordination, and policy and legislative improvement work tied directly to countering wildlife crime, rather than supporting academic degree pathways or independent research projects.

Key administrative details from the notice include the opportunity number F23AS00375, a discretionary opportunity category, and an original closing date of July 18, 2023. The notice was created on May 18, 2023, and it anticipates making a single award up to the $600,000 ceiling. Overall, the funding opportunity is designed to create a more capable, better connected, and more legally empowered enforcement environment across the Eastern Caribbean, with an emphasis on durable training products, stronger collaboration, and policy and legislative improvements that collectively reduce poaching and trafficking of endemic species.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "F23AS00375 - Counter-Wildlife Crime Capacity Building and Policy Assessment in the Eastern Caribbean" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.640.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-05-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-07-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $600,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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