FBIS Africa Freshwater Biodiversity Data Mobilisation Small Grants
The FBIS-Africa project, led by the Freshwater Research Centre and supported by JRS Biodiversity Foundation and the GBIF Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme, invites applications for small grants to mobilise and publish existing freshwater biodiversity occurrence data from Africa.
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Grant amount |
USD 5,000–10,000 |
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Grant period |
January–June 2027 (6 months) |
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Application deadline |
9 November 2026 |
What are the grants for?
The grants will support the mobilisation, via data uploads to the FBIS Africa platform, of existing African freshwater biodiversity data that are not already published to GBIF. Funding can support data collation and digitisation, cleaning and quality control, georeferencing, metadata preparation, formatting and standardisation, and other reasonable costs directly associated with preparing data for publication.
A biodiversity occurrence record is an observation or collection of a particular taxon (e.g. species) at a particular place and time. Each record must contain, at minimum: taxon name + sampling date + spatial coordinates (latitude and longitude).
Records may also contain abundance, sampling method and effort, photographs, habitat measurements, water-quality measurements and other environmental variables. These additional fields are not essential but are beneficial if they are available.
Who can apply?
Applications are welcomed from African freshwater biodiversity data holders, including universities and research institutions, museums and natural history collections, government agencies, NGOs, freshwater biodiversity programmes, and individual researchers or data custodians working through eligible host institutions.
Eligible taxonomic groups include:
Freshwater fishes, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Megaloptera.
To be eligible, proposed records must:
- Represent freshwater biodiversity occurrence data from Africa;
- Not already be published to GBIF;
- Include, at minimum, taxon name, sampling date and spatial coordinates for each record;
- Have clear ownership/custodianship and permission for publication; and
- Be capable of being mobilised during the January–June 2027 grant period.
Requirements
Applicants must specify the number of unpublished occurrence records they propose to mobilise, and agree to the following:
- Sign an FBIS-Africa Data Sharing Agreement;
- Format data using the FBIS-Africa Data Upload Template available at https://fbisafrica.org/upload/ (assistance will be available from the FBIS-Africa team);
- Submit the completed dataset and associated metadata to FBIS-Africa;
- Agree that all records mobilised through the grant will be published to FBIS-Africa and pushed to GBIF; and
- Complete the required technical and financial reporting.
How will applications be evaluated?
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Criterion |
Weight |
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Data quality – reliability, taxonomic accuracy, metadata, completeness, georeferencing and useful additional data fields |
30% |
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Data quantity – number of unique occurrence records to be mobilised |
30% |
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Geographic extent and priority – spatial extent and contribution to filling data gaps in underrepresented countries, basins and freshwater ecosystems |
25% |
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Capacity to deliver – relevant experience, technical/institutional capacity and ability to complete the work during January–June 2027 |
15% |
Additional consideration may be given to historical or irreplaceable datasets, threatened or endemic species, conservation-priority areas, opportunities for capacity development and regional collaboration, and overall value for money.
How to apply
Complete the Africa Freshwater Biodiversity Data Mobilisation Small Grant Application Form and submit it together with the Project Leader's CV.
Download: FBIS Africa Small Grants Application Form
Email completed applications to: nazley@frcsa.org.za with the subject line, ‘FBIS-Africa small grant application submission’.
Application deadline: 9 November 2026
Note: the application asks for a short project motivation, details of the proposed dataset(s), the number and geographic coverage of records, confirmation that the records are not already published to GBIF, and proposed mobilisation activities.
