Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund-Asia

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mission is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The International Affairs Program delivers on this mission through its financial assistance programs by supporting strategic projects that deliver measurable conservation results for priority species and their habitats around the world.The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund (RTCF) is soliciting proposals for the conservation of rhinoceros and/or tigers throughout their ranges. The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act was passed in 1994 to provide financial resources for conservation of rhinoceroses and tiger populations. This Funding Opportunity aligns with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) mission and contributes directly to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior's following priorities:1. Create a conservation stewardship legacy, second only to Teddy Roosevelt: The goal of this program is to reduce threats to tigers and/or rhinoceroses in their natural habitats. Proposals should identify specific conservation actions that have a high likelihood of creating lasting benefits. Project activities that emphasize data collection and status assessment should describe a direct link to management action, and explain how lack of information has been a key limiting factor for management action in the past. Proposals that do not identify how actions will reduce threats or that do not demonstrate a strong link between data collection and management action will be rejected.7. Strike a regulatory balance: Decisions made in the conservation of tigers and/or rhinoceroses are based on strong science and thorough analysis.10. Achieving our goals, leading our team forward:Ensure that the most cost-effective approach has been taken to accomplish goals, objectives and activities. Provide timely technical and financial reporting. Work toward sustainability of project and recovery of species.The Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund supports projects that promote conservation through: Support of protected area/reserve management and law enforcement in important rhinoceros and tiger range; Enhanced protection of the most at-risk rhinoceros and tiger populations; Habitat conservation, restoration and management; Strengthening local capacity and enhancing community engagement to implement conservation programs that enhance conservation stewardship; Efforts to decrease human-rhinoceros and human-tiger conflicts; Applied research on rhinoceros and tiger populations and their habitats, including surveys and monitoring; Compliance with applicable treaties (such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)) and laws that regulate the taking or trade of rhinoceroses and tigers or regulate the use and management of their habitat; Reducing demand for illegal rhinoceros and tiger parts, products and live animals in consumer countries; Combating trafficking of rhinoceros and tiger parts, products and live animals; Reintroduction of rhinoceros to former range; and, Trans-frontier tiger conservation.