Whitley Awards
Whitley Fund for Nature
GBP 50,000 in one-year project funding for grassroots conservation leaders who are nationals of the low- or middle-income country where they work, including Ghana. Applications for the 2027 Whitley Awards close at 23:59 GMT on Friday 30 October 2026.
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Eligibility
- Who can apply
- Developing countries
- Education required
- None
- Fields
- Environment
- Language
- Applicants must be able to communicate verbally in English without a translator; total fluency is not required.
- Residency
- Must be a national of the country in which you work - born there or long-term resident with national status - and embedded in local communities; expatriates are not funded.
- Also required
- Work based in at least one eligible country - countries not classified as a High-Income Economy by the World Bank; Ghana is on the published 2027 eligible country list
- Must work for a locally incorporated NGO, charity, not-for-profit or university
- Mid-career conservationist leading a project backed by an experienced team or organisation with demonstrated past success
- Ecosystem-level projects preferred; community-led projects encouraged
- Not funded: expatriates, pure academic research, MSc or PhD fieldwork, expeditions, start-up or pilot projects, one-person operations, joint or third-party applications, land purchase, construction, animal welfare and captive breeding, and generally government employees (university staff at government-funded universities are typically eligible)
About this opportunity
Whitley Awards are annual awards from the Whitley Fund for Nature for mid-career conservation leaders in the Global South who are already running proven, science-based conservation projects. Each award is worth GBP 50,000 in project funding over one year, and winners also receive international recognition, communications and media support, peer learning and training, and become eligible for later Continuation Funding and the Whitley Gold Award. Applications for the 2027 Whitley Awards are open now and close at 23:59 GMT on Friday 30 October 2026, with winners announced at the awards ceremony in London in spring 2027.
To be eligible you must be a national of the country in which you work, meaning you were born there or have lived there long term and hold national status, and your work must be based in at least one eligible country. Eligible countries are those the World Bank does not classify as high-income; Ghana appears on the published 2027 eligible country list, alongside Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon, Ethiopia and most of the continent. You must work for a locally incorporated NGO, charity, not-for-profit or university, deliver measurable impact for threatened ecosystems and biodiversity at landscape or seascape level, provide tangible benefits to Indigenous peoples and local communities, and be able to hold a conversation in English without a translator.
Read the exclusions carefully before you spend time on this one. Whitley Fund for Nature does not fund expatriates, pure academic research, MSc or PhD fieldwork done primarily to fulfil degree requirements, expeditions, start-up or pilot projects, one-person operations, joint applications, land purchase, construction, animal welfare or, generally, government employees, although staff at government-funded universities are typically eligible. You do not need a nomination. Apply through the WFN online portal, complete the logical framework and budget templates downloaded from it, and arrange for three referees to submit references by the deadline.
- Level
- Early career
- Where
- Multiple countries
- Duration
- One year of project funding
- Difficulty
- Very high · about 8 weeks to prepare
Funding
Prize
- prize money
- research costs
Each Whitley Award is worth GBP 50,000 in project funding over one year. Winners also receive profile-raising, communications and media support, peer learning and training, and eligibility for future Continuation Funding and the Whitley Gold Award.
What you will need
- Project or business proposal
- Reference letters (3)
- Other documents
Online application form on the WFN portal, plus two templates downloaded from the portal and uploaded completed: a Microsoft Word logical framework/timeline and a Microsoft Excel budget. Templates are updated annually and applications on out-of-date forms are not considered. Three referees must be nominated.
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