MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Given scarce resources, Darwin Plus is contacting directly on Round 13 shortlisted projects

Darwin Plus, under ODA has benefited and included the Falkland Islands with 43 programs, helping with resources to manage them

The UK government Darwin Plus grants scheme helps deliver long-term strategic outcomes for the unique biodiversity, the natural environment and improving resilience to climate change within the UK Overseas Territories.

The scheme for example has benefited and included the Falkland Islands with 43 programs, helping with resources to manage them with two outstanding science and research institutions in the Islands, Falklands Conservation and SAERI, South Atlantic Environment Research Institute.

However the Darwin Plus initiative has faced challenging developments. According to their own releases, the Program explained that last April, that to fund a necessary increase in defense spending, the UK Government decided in the current fiscal and economic circumstances to reduce its Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget. Climate and nature remain top priorities for the UK’s ODA budget, alongside humanitarian and health, but as the overall aid budget reduces, “we will need to achieve more with less by targeting our support where it has the most impact”.

The UK Government has now set budgets for Government Departments until March 2029. Now that Defra, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, knows how much ODA funding to expect, the Department must decide how much to allocate to each program, including Darwin Plus

With Defra has now confirmation of the funding available for Round 13 shortlisted projects. In its latest release Darwin Plus said that applicants are being contacted directly over the next few weeks, but if any questions arise, please get in touch with the Darwin Plus team on BCF-DPLUS@niras.com. At this stage, Darwin Plus do not have any information on future funding rounds, however an update on this can be expected later this year.