Turtle Conservation Fund - PROPOSALS

Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Next Proposal Deadline: 

1 May 2017

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The Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF) awards grants to organizations or individuals for specific conservation or research projects dealing with tortoises or freshwater turtles, but not marine turtles, with either partial or full support as funding allows. 

Grants focus on projects regarding 1) species listed as IUCN Critically Endangered, 2) species that are on the TCF Priority Species List (recently revised, see below), or 3) species other than those listed, provided a convincing rationale is included why the species’ conservation status merits funding from the TCF.   The maximum amount of each grant is US $5000, but smaller grant requests are also encouraged (up to $1000 each) to support pilot conservation initiatives for tortoise and freshwater turtle species that are currently either IUCN Red Listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered (or on the TCF Priority Species list--see below), or species that may become priority species with an increase in the state of knowledge about the status of their populations or the threats they currently face (principally species currently classified on the Red List as Not Evaluated or Data Deficient).

TCF’s highest priority species targeted for funding are listed below (list recently revised).

Award recipients enter into contractual agreement with one of our partner organizations (Conservation International, Chelonian Research Foundation, or Turtle Conservancy) to produce the proposed work.  Award recipients are also encouraged to publish at least partial results of the supported research in the international scientific turtle journal, Chelonian Conservation and Biology, published by TCF partner Chelonian Research Foundation (CRF; www.chelonian.org).

For further information and application guidelines go to www.TurtleConservationFund.org

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Turtle Conservation Fund 

Priority Species List

Species included in this list are Critically Endangered (CR) or proposed as CR (by IUCN Red Listing Workshops).  Listed exceptions include Acanthochelys pallidipectoris (Chaco Side-necked Turtle), Chitra indica (Indian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle), Elusor macrurus (Mary River Turtle), Centrochelys sulcata (African Spurred Tortoise), Kinosternon angustipons (Narrow-bridged Mud Turtle), Myuchelys georgesi (Bellinger River Sawshelled Turtle), Terrapene coahuila (Coahuilan Box Turtle), and Terrapene (carolina) yucatana (Yucatan Box Turtle). 

In addition, the Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF) recognizes that the conservation status of many turtle species, particularly those inhabiting Sub-Saharan Africa, is poorly known, and will consider applications for projects to improve our understanding of the survival prospects of these species, particularly Homopus solus (Nama Padloper), Kinixys erosa (Serrated Hinge-back tortoise), and Pelusios broadleyi (Turkana Mud Turtle) during the 2017 funding cycles.  Such projects should clearly describe why a particular species or region might warrant priority funding from the TCF. 

Dermatemydidae

1. Dermatemys mawii  (Central American River Turtle) – Belize, Guatemala, Mexico

Kinosternidae

2. Kinosternon angustipons (Narrrow-bridged Mud Turtle) – Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama 
3. Sternotherus depressus  (Flattened Musk Turtle) – USA 

Emydidae

4. Glyptemys muhlenbergii           (Bog Turtle) – USA 
5. Terrapene coahuila  (Coahuilan Box Turtle) – Mexico 
6. Terrapene (carolina) yucatana (Yucatan Box Turtle) – Mexico 

Geoemydidae 

7. Batagur affinis  (Southern River Terrapin) – Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand 
8. Batagur baska  (Northern River Terrapin) – Bangladesh, India, Myanmar
9. Batagur borneoensis  (Painted Terrapin) – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand 
10. Batagur kachuga  (Red-crowned Roofed Turtle) – Bangladesh, India, Nepal
11. Batagur trivittata  (Burmese Roofed Turtle) – Myanmar 
12. Cuora aurocapitata  (Yellow-headed Box Turtle) – China 
13. Cuora bourreti  (Bourret’s Box Turtle) – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam
14. Cuora flavomarginata(Yellow-margined Box Turtle) – China, Japan, Taiwan 
15. Cuora galbinifrons  (Indochinese Box Turtle) – China, Laos, Vietnam
16. Cuora mccordi  (McCord’s Box Turtle) – China 
17. Cuora mouhotii (Keeled Box Turtle) – China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam
18. Cuora pani  (Pan’s Box Turtle) – China 
19. Cuora picturata  (Southern Vietnam Box Turtle) – Vietnam 
20. Cuora trifasciata  (Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle, Golden Coin Turtle) – China, Hong Kong, Laos, Vietnam
21. Cuora yunnanensis  (Yunnan Box Turtle) – China 
22. Cuora zhoui  (Zhou’s Box Turtle) – China, Vietnam
23. Heosemys annandalii (Yellow-headed Temple Turtle) – Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
24. Heosemys depressa  (Arakan Forest Turtle) – Myanmar 
25. Leucocephalon yuwonoi  (Sulawesi Forest Turtle) – Indonesia 
26. Mauremys annamensis  (Annam Pond Turtle) – Vietnam 
27. Mauremys mutica (Yellow Pond Turtle) – China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam
28. Mauremys nigricans  (Red-necked Pond Turtle) – China, Vietnam 
29. Orlitia borneensis (Malaysian Giant Turtle) – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia
30. Sacalia bealei (Beal’s Eyed Turtle) – China, Hong Kong
31. Siebenrockiella leytensis  (Philippine Forest Turtle) – Philippines 

Platysternidae 

32. Platysternon megacephalum (Big-headed Turtle) – Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Testudinidae

33. Astrochelys radiata  (Radiated Tortoise) – Madagascar 
34. Astrochelys yniphora  (Ploughshare Tortoise, Angonoka) – Madagascar 
35. Centrochelys sulcata (African Spurred Tortoise – only in-situ projects eligible) – Benin, Burkina Faso, CAR, Chad, Eritera, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan
36. Geochelone platynota  (Burmese Star Tortoise) – Myanmar Gopherus flavomarginatus  (Bolson Tortoise) – Mexico
37. Gopherus flavomarginatus (Bolson Tortoise) – Mexico
38. Kinixys homeana (Home’s Hinge-back Tortoise) – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo, Zaire
39. Malacochersus tornieri (Pancake Tortoise) – Kenya, Tanzania
40. Manouria emys (Asian Giant Tortoise) – Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand 
41. Psammobates geometricus  (Geometric Tortoise) – South Africa 
42. Pyxis arachnoides  (Spider Tortoise) – Madagascar 
43. Pyxis planicauda  (Flat-tailed Tortoise, Flat-shelled Spider Tortoise) – Madagascar 
44. Testudo kleinmanni  (Egyptian Tortoise) – Egypt, Israel, Libya

Trionychidae

45. Apalone spinifera atra  (Black Spiny Softshell Turtle, Cuatro Cienegas Softshell Turtle) - Mexico
46. Chitra chitra  (Asian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle) – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand
47. Chitra indica  (Indian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle) – Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan
48. Chitra vandijki  (Burmese Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle) – Myanmar, Thailand 
49. Cyclanorbis elegans (Nubian Flapshell Turtle) – Chad, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Togo 
50. Nilssonia formosa (Burmese Peacock Softshell Turtle) – China, Myanmar, 
51. Nilssonia leithii  (Leith’s Softshell Turtle) – India 
52. Nilssonia nigricans  (Black Softshell Turtle, Bostami Softshell) – Bangladesh, India 
53. Pelochelys cantori  (Asian Giant Softshell Turtle, Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle) – Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam 
54. Rafetus swinhoei (Red River Giant Softshell Turtle, Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle, Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle) – China, Vietnam 

Chelidae

55. Acanthochelys pallidipectoris (Chaco Side-necked Turtle) – Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
56. Chelodina mccordi  (Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle) – Indonesia, Timor-Leste 
57. Elusor macrurus  (Mary River Turtle) – Australia 
58. Mesoclemmys hogei  (Hoge’s Side-necked Turtle) – Brazil 
59. Myuchelys georgesi (Bellinger River Sawshelled Turtle) – Australia
60. Pseudemydura umbrina  (Western Swamp Turtle) – Australia 

Podocnemididae 

61. Erymnochelys madagascariensis  (Madagascan Big-headed Turtle) – Madagascar 
62. Podocnemis expansa  (Giant South American River Turtle, Giant Amazon River Turtle, Arrau) – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela 
63. Podocnemis lewyana  (Magdalena River Turtle) – Colombia 

The TCF is aware that Gopherus agassizii (Mojave Desert Tortoise - USA) is proposed for an assessment as Critically Endangered; however, the TCF is unlikely to fund applications for Desert Tortoise work, and recommends that prospective applicants for projects concerning this species check into grants available from the Desert Tortoise Council [http://deserttortoise.org] and other sources.

Peter Dickinson Independent International Zoo Consultant +971 50 4787 122 | elvinhow@gmail.com | Skype: peter.dickinson48

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