FUNDING CRITERIA

The Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) members are a diverse group of leading adventure travel and outdoor recreation businesses who share a common ethos and responsibility to protect the resources from which the adventure tourism industry benefits. 

Our funding is used to protect threatened communities, cultures and wild places throughout the world for their cultural, habitat and recreational value. The ATCF will provide grants to organizations outside North America who seek funding for projects that support our mission and fall within one of the project categories below: 

Criteria 1: LONG-TERM PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES SUCH AS WILDLAND, WATERWAY OR THREATENED SPECIES

Preserving the natural conditions and diversity of destinations is critical to sustaining a viable/quality experience for travelers and outdoor recreationalists in perpetuity.

Criteria 2: PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL SITES AND INDIGENOUS TOURISM INITIATIVES

Over time, many historic and cultural assets are at risk of disappearing without any record. Preserving traditional knowledge, historical sites and native language is critical to ensuring that the authenticity and sense of place is maintained for future generations. Additionally, investing in the preservation of historic and cultural assets will provide an opportunity for local communities to build and benefit from a sustainable tourism economy.

Projects must meet the following criteria:

• Must be completed in the next two years

• Must engage the local community*, and is driven by local stakeholders

• Must provide a clear connection to the adventure travel community at large

* “Community” includes local towns, regional communities and/or other NGOs working in the area.

The ATCF will prioritize projects whose work meets the following criteria:

• Focuses on long-term and lasting change

• Addresses the root cause of the issue/problem

• Demonstrates measurable outcomes and quantifiable impacts

• Project is replicable, and model may be shared with those in the travel community looking to implement similar projects

Funding will be awarded based on:

1. Projects that most closely align with the above criteria

2. Available funding capacity for that grant cycle

3. Membership voting preferences

Note, because of the unprecedented changes that our world has faced from the novel coronavirus pandemic, we have changed our 2020 grant program and will not be accepting project nominations during this calendar year, but will resume our “normal” grant process in 2021. Please learn more in Project Nominations about how to participate in our 2021 grant cycle.

Once our deadline for project nominations closes, we will contact each of the organizations that were nominated, and invite them to submit a formal application. These organizations will be asked to complete and submit their RFP project application to the ATCF.

If you have questions about whether or not your nominated project will fit within our criteria, please contact us at info@atconservationfund.org.