Caribbean Partners for Conservation (CPC) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Announcement for Program Funding – Caribbean Area | USDA NRCS PR MULTI 24 NOFO0001338

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS PR MULTI 24 NOFO0001338

The Caribbean Partners for Conservation (CPC) FY 2024 funding opportunity is a competitive grant announcement from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) focused on practical, on-the-ground conservation work in the Caribbean Area, specifically Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The program is designed to leverage NRCS resources by partnering with local and regional organizations to address priority natural resource concerns, strengthen collaboration across sectors, and build conservation leadership at the state and community level. A major emphasis is placed on collaborative projects that can directly support the work of NRCS field offices in the Caribbean, meaning proposals that help deliver conservation assistance in real communities are especially encouraged.

The funding instrument for this opportunity is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies an active partnership between NRCS and the award recipient during project implementation rather than a hands-off grant. NRCS indicates it expects up to $1,500,000 total to support the program in FY 2024. The notice lists an award ceiling of $200,000 and an expectation of about six awards, indicating multiple smaller awards rather than a single large one. Project periods are expected to run from one to three years, and the notice also allows organizations to use this competition to request additional funding to expand or continue existing agreements already operating in the Caribbean Area.

Eligible applicants are broadly defined and include state governments, county governments, and city or township governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; public and private institutions of higher education; and nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (with the caveat that the nonprofit eligibility category excludes institutions of higher education). The program is categorized under agriculture, environment, and natural resources (CFDA 10.902), which aligns with NRCS mission areas such as soil health, water quality, erosion control, habitat improvement, and related conservation delivery activities. While the notice references specific conservation issues described in Section A(2) of the full announcement, the summary makes clear that proposals must align with those stated priorities and must be based in Puerto Rico or the USVI.

A key restriction in this notice is that research proposals will not be accepted or considered. In practice, this means applications should focus on implementation, technical assistance, training, outreach tied to adoption of conservation practices, demonstration projects meant to accelerate field application, partnership coordination, or other applied efforts that produce tangible conservation outcomes rather than generating research findings as the primary product. Proposals will be reviewed for completeness and compliance, and applications that are missing required elements or do not follow the instructions can be removed from consideration without further review.

Applicants must submit through Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on May 8, 2024. The notice draws a firm line between technical submission support and programmatic questions: Grants.gov Applicant Support is the contact for account or submission problems, and NRCS staff will not troubleshoot Grants.gov issues. For questions about the content of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO), applicants are directed to the federal awarding agency contact listed in Section G of the full notice, but questions are limited to clarifying what is written in the NFO (for example, confirming dates, locating sections, or resolving inconsistencies). The agency explicitly states it will not respond to questions about whether an applicant is eligible or whether a specific project concept is competitive, so applicants are expected to determine fit by closely reading the notice.

NRCS expects to announce selections around June 1, 2024 and execute awards by about July 20, 2024, with the reminder that these dates are estimates and may shift. Award recipients should also anticipate administrative involvement after selection: the notice states that recipients may be required to attend administrative training and may be asked to provide formal project updates via presentations to Caribbean NRCS leadership. Overall, the opportunity is best suited for organizations that can partner effectively with NRCS, operate in Puerto Rico or the USVI, and deliver practical conservation support that strengthens local capacity and produces measurable improvements to natural resources in the Caribbean Area.

• The Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Caribbean Partners for Conservation (CPC) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Announcement for Program Funding – Caribbean Area" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-08. (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 $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS PR MULTI 24 NOFO0001338

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