Luis F. Bacardi Fruit Bat Conservation and Research Fund

Bat Research

Purpose: This Fund is intended to support people whose work advances research and conservation of fruit bats and their ecosystems through sound science and applied conservation projects.

In the light of the changing nature of the global economy, Lubee Bat Conservancy is re-aligning its portfolio of programs and re-thinking its Small Grants program. We have had to reduce our budget, and make cutbacks to ensure that our core facility, bats and ongoing research programs are maintained. In doing so, we have had to make difficult decisions on the funding of proposals submitted to the Luis F Bacardi Fruit Bat Conservation & Research Fund.

Our conservation strategy is based on implementing range-wide science-based conservation priorities in areas where we have good relations with in situ partners. These consensus priorities are set out in the Old World Fruit Bat Action Plan by the IUCN-SSC Chiroptera Specialist Group (CSG)(Micklebugh 1992), in the American Zoological Association’s (AZA) Bat Taxon Advisory Group collection plan and outlined by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE), of which Lubee is a partner. While our portfolio of projects is diverse, priority is given to projects on flying foxes addressing one or more of five priority conservation challenges; endangered species, bats and the bushmeat crisis, population monitoring and saving key sites, managing bat-human conflict in agriculture, ecology of bats and emerging infectious diseases. Many proposals we receive do not match these key conservation challenges, and we are unable to fund these at this time. This does not mean they are not valuable, worthwhile and well thought out projects.

Currently, we are not funding unsolicited proposals. Instead we are opting to fund conservancy-generated initiatives, commitments and special opportunities with our partners in our areas of focus. In the near future, when we are thru this economic downturn, we propose to drive the direction of new focused initiatives by issuing requests for proposals on specific topics and geographic regions, and inviting applicants to apply.

In additional we offer student awards (see below).

Current Requests for Proposal's, Application and Reporting Forms

No current RFPs

Application for Small Grant (Word doc.)
Annual Report Form (Word doc.)

LUIS F. BACARDI STUDENT AWARD IN BAT CONSERVATION

The Luis F. Bacardi Conservation Award is a $500 award to a participating student for the most outstanding paper on the conservation biology of bats at each of the following conferences: North American Symposium on Bat Research (NASBR), International Bat Research Conference (IBRC).

The LFB Student Award is open to all full-time students presently enrolled in a university-based graduate program and candidates must be the principal author.

Oral presentations and posters will be judged by members of the NASBR conference judge committee, and will be evaluated on the basis of originality, scientific rigor, and overall presentation. The award will be presented at the closing ceremonies of the conference.

LUIS F. BACARDI ADVANCES IN TROPICAL CONSERVATION AWARD

Established in 2005, this $300 award, will be awarded each year for the best oral presentation on a conservation-related theme at the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation Annual Meeting, and is open to individuals with a doctorate who completed their Ph.D. no more than five years previously.

The Bacardi award, provided to the ATBC by an endowment from th e Lubee Bat Conservancy, is designed to foster high-quality conservation science in the tropics. In addition to the honorarium, the winner of the award will have his/her abstract and photo published in Biotropica.

Bat Research

If you wish to be considered for this award at the ATBC meeting, please send a copy of your submitted abstract to William F. Laurance (laurancew@tivoli.si.edu). In your email message please indicate the year you received your Ph.D. and the name of the granting university and department.