Projects with activities planned in official partner countries of the Belgian Development Cooperation (indicated with an asterisk in the above list) will be given priority, even more so if these activities will be carried out in collaboration with a scientific institute with which CEBioS/the Belgian GTI-NFP has a privileged relationship (institutional cooperation). These institutes are:

• Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC, Benin);
• Université de Parakou (Benin);
• Institut de Recherches Halieutiques et Océanologiques du Benin (IRHOB);
• Office Burundais pour la Protection de l’Environnement (OBPE, Burundi);
• Centre de Surveillance de la Biodiversité (CSB, DR Congo);
• Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN, DR Congo) with implementation of activities by Congolese scientific institutes.

As far as the content of the projects is concerned, there are no limitations as to the taxonomic group(s) that can be studied. However, the targeted organisms should play an important role in ecosystem functioning and the delivery of ecosystem services so that the project can contribute in the medium or long term to sustainable ecosystem management and sustainable livelihoods of local communities in support of the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the targets of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Sampling must respect local and national regulations, and sample exports must comply with ABS legislation and the Nagoya Protocol. The “Build your ABS Strategy” checklist of the German Nagoya Protocol HuB provides guidance on the topic.

Additionally, research activities must at all times be accompanied by several days of capacity-development activities – either in the partner country itself or in Belgium if relevant– to enhance the taxonomic and curatorial knowledge and/or skills of the local students/researchers (e.g., a training in field sampling techniques, species identification, collection management, …).

Both the research and capacity-development component should respond to clearly identified taxonomic and/or curatorial needs of the partner country/institute. Therefore, an endorsement letter from the local partner(s) is requested along with the project proposal, clearly stating how the collaboration will benefit the local institute in terms of addressing gaps in its taxonomic/curatorial system and in the taxonomic knowledge, skills, etc. of its staff/students.

Moreover, projects with a multi-disciplinary approach are encouraged. They may, for example, complement initiatives or programmes that are already operational (even if carried out by other institutes or funded by other countries/organisations).

Finally, it is an asset if women empowerment and gender equality are taken into account in the project proposal and execution.