CORDAP Funding Award
Coral Local Innovation Program (CLIP)

The devastating global coral bleaching event from the past two years – and ongoing – reminds us of the urgency to develop the tools to save corals worldwide. With 2024 declared the warmest year on record—1.55°C above pre-industrial levels—the stakes for coral conservation have never been higher. The window of opportunity for saving these vital ecosystems is closing rapidly, and innovative technical solutions, along with large-scale interventions, are urgently needed.

To address this challenge, the G20 Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform (CORDAP) has launched the Coral Local Innovation Program (CLIP)—a new funding opportunity exclusively for researchers from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)[1]. The program offers a total of USD 1.5 million in research, with a maximum of USD 100,000 per proposal.

 

[1] as classified by the OECD.

 

Open Now: Coral Local Innovation Program (CLIP) 2025

The Coral Local Innovation Program (CLIP) is a Small Grants Program from CORDAP that aims to support innovative research and development (R&D) projects that address local, affordable solutions to coral conservation and restoration challenges in developing countries. These projects are expected to have the potential for scalability and replication in other contexts. The program also places a strong emphasis on capacity development in developing nations.

This call was specifically designed to fund researchers and teams from LMICs, but supporting partners and collaborators can be from non-LMIC nations. Importantly, the panel of reviewers of this call is composed entirely of coral experts from developing nations.

Funding amount: Up to USD 100 000 per project, for 1–2 years.

Applicants: Researchers based in LMICs, but unfunded co-applicants may be based in non-LMICs.

Collaboration: Partnerships are encouraged but not required. Single-applicant proposals are eligible. Multi-country LMIC collaborations are welcome.

Eligible Organizations: Not-for-profits, for-profits, higher education institutions, research institutes, and government organizations. Organizations must be legally eligible to receive international funding and provide evidence of existence through at least two years of annual reports.

The deadline for Concept Note submissions is April 18, 2025, at 17:00 UTC. To assist applicants, we will host a Q&A webinar on March 18 at 12:00 UTC.

Link to myCORDAP

Overview and Objectives

The Small Grants Program aims to support innovative research and development (R&D) projects focused on local affordable solutions to coral conservation and restoration challenges in developing countries. Solutions proposed should have the potential to be upscalable and replicable in other settings, and/or lead to significant R&D capacity building advances. Projects can range from novel, early-phase ideas through to proof-of-concept development and testing.

This program offers grants of up to USD $100,000 for up to two years to eligible applicants from Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) as classified by the OECD.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the Small Grants Program are to develop coral innovation research and capacity for conservation and restoration in LMIC countries.

  1. Encourage local technology development and innovative approaches to coral conservation and restoration in developing countries.
  2. To enhance the capacity of local scientists, researchers, and organizations to conduct coral and reef research and development activities.
  3. To address critical knowledge gaps in local coral conservation and restoration.

Eligibility and Criteria

Applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the Small Grants Program:

  • Applicants must be based in an LMIC. The OECD List of low and middle-income countries must be used to determine eligibility (includes both lower-middle and upper-middle income countries, overseas territories and regions of non-LMIC countries are not eligible).
  • Co-applicants (unfunded collaborators) from non LMIC countries are eligible but cannot receive funding.
  • Eligible organizations include not-for-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, higher education institutions, research institutes, industry and government organizations. CORDAP is unable to make grants directly to individuals.
  • Applicant organizations must have been in existence for at least 2 full years. If funded, organizations may be requested to provide 2 years accounts.
  • An individual can only be Lead Applicant on one proposal and participate in up to a maximum of one additional proposal as a Co-Applicant.
  • An organization can be Lead Organization on a maximum of 2 proposals but can be involved in multiple proposals as a partner.
  • CORDAP Coral Accelerator Program (CAP) lead applicants/grantees cannot apply. CAP Co-Investigators/grantees may apply but will require very strong justification to receive additional funding through this program.
  • Lead Applicants in CAP 2024 applications can apply – noting they cannot hold both a CAP 2024 and CLIP 2025 Award.

Partnerships are encouraged but not mandatory, single applicant proposals are eligible.

Projects can be based in more than one country, as long as all countries are LMIC eligible.

Please note that funding cannot be awarded to organizations that are subject to international sanctions.

Applications may be made by a group of organizations; however, they must name one Lead Organization. The Lead Organization will make an agreement with CORDAP and receive an award if the proposal is successful. The Lead Organization must agree to the Terms and Conditions and will be ultimately responsible for the delivery and management of the project, including the management of any partners and co-applicants, and all use of funds by co-applicants and partners.

Projects Supported in this Call

Types of projects supported in this call

  • Novel R&D projects
  • Improving or scaling up existing interventions
  • Translation R&D
  • Foundation science to support the implementation of interventions
  • R&D capacity development and local innovation and implementation

Program priority areas

The following are areas CORDAP considers ‘high need’:

  • Assisted Evolution
  • Aquaculture/Automation
  • Cold-Water Corals (CWC)
  • Preserve and conserve existing corals
  • Limit early life stage mortality
  • Intervention planning, risk, and monitoring
  • Blended artificial and natural reefs
  • R&D capacity development
  • Developing country R&D methods

Proposal Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

This is a one-stage submission and review process. All proposals received will be checked for compliance with the Funding Call criteria, policies, terms and conditions.

All applications will undergo international peer review followed by panel assessment.

All proposals will be evaluated against the criteria below, applicants should ensure their proposal addresses all relevant review criteria:

 

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Potential of the project to make significant changes, be transformational in its field.
  • Ability of the Applicant(s) to deliver the goals of the proposed project.
  • Innovation or novelty of the idea
  • Scalability and replicability in wider regions
  • Targeted impact and pathway and timing to impact
  • Management, coordination, and cost effectiveness of the project
  • Analysis of project risks, and site selection process outlined
  • R&D capacity development for local communities
  • Broader impact and socioeconomic applicability.

Timeline and deadlines

Call Timeline
Call Opens 3rd March2025
Concept Note Webinars (Registration link ) 18th March2025 12:00 UTC
Proposal Submission Deadline 18th April February 18:00 UTC
Anticipated Notification Date Aug/Sept 2025
Call Documentation CORDAP website
Proposal Submission Portal Link myCORDAP

Call documents

Documents listing:

  • CORDAP CLIP 2025 Call Document
  • CORDAP CLIP Submission Form
  • CORDAP CLIP 2025 Budget Template
  • CORDAP Statement of Intent to Collaborate

Download the Call Documents – Zip File

Funding policies

Documents listing:

  • CORDAP IP Policy
  • CORDAP Consortium Agreement Template (Required at Award stage)
  • CORDAP Open Access Policy
  • CORDAP Award Terms and Conditions (Award Manual)
  • CORDAP Data Privacy Note

    Download CORDAP’s Funding Policy Documents – Zip File

    Submission assistance

    Applicants are first directed to the CAP FAQ and Submission Assistance documents:

    Assistance webinar registration: https://kaustforms.formstack.com/forms/clip_2025_webinar

    For any questions, contact us at: funding@cordap.org

       

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