Environment – Marine Food and Livelihoods Grant

About this grant

The Oak Foundation Environment Programme aims to safeguard the future and restore people's connection to nature. Its grant-making takes a systems change approach, looking for the root causes of environmental and social challenges and seeking solutions that deliver multiple social and biodiversity benefits. The programme has three sub-programmes: Marine food systems and livelihoods, Nature and people, and Regenerative landscapes. The Marine food systems and livelihoods sub-programme supports efforts that protect food security for coastal and Indigenous communities while maintaining marine ecosystem health. Funded activities include strengthening the governance of small-scale fisheries, building climate resilience, empowering communities, conserving fish stocks and habitats, and increasing transparency and labour rights in fisheries. Support is directed to Africa, Asia and Latin America, with a preference for work that has regional or global impact. The Nature and people sub-programme promotes a 'living landscapes' approach that protects biodiversity while considering people's livelihoods and wellbeing. It also funds work to prevent illegal wildlife trade and to secure a safe and sustainable future for wildlife, with initiatives focused on Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe. The Regenerative landscapes sub-programme funds regenerative agriculture, which promotes farming systems that benefit both people and nature, and rewilding, which restores land and biodiverse spaces altered by human activity. Its focus is on buffer zones outside protected areas and on communal lands in Southern Africa. The page also features partner stories illustrating the programme's work, including small-scale fisheries tenure reform, a conservation funding network in Southern Africa, regenerative agriculture in Zimbabwe, conservation leadership training, the Gorongosa restoration in Mozambique, and ocean conservation by Oceana.

Eligibility

The page does not set out formal applicant eligibility rules such as organisation type or legal status. The programme describes its geographic and thematic focus: the marine food systems and livelihoods work is directed to Africa, Asia and Latin America, especially where there is regional or global impact; the nature and people work to Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe; and the regenerative landscapes work to buffer zones and communal lands in Southern Africa. Applicants are expected to work within these themes. Oak's grant-making process page, which is linked from this programme page, describes how to submit a letter of enquiry, but this page does not state whether that applies to this programme.

Key requirements

• ✓Submit letter of enquiry (LOI) as first step
• ✓Consult full Environment programme page for detailed strategy and eligibility criteria
• ✓Focus on marine food security and livelihoods outcomes

Recent past awardees

Knowing who's won the last rounds tells you whether you're in the strike zone.

• Oceana · 2001
• Gorongosa Restoration Project
• Alinea
• Effective Conservation Cooperative
• World Resource Institute

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply for Environment – Marine Food and Livelihoods?

Eligibility covers organisations in GLOBAL; nonprofit, charity, social-enterprise, community-group, research-institution. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Ocean and blue economy funding covers marine conservation, sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, coastal resilience and ocean technology. Support comes from public research bodies, development finance and ocean-focused foundations. Calls often favour projects that involve coastal communities and that can be monitored at sea.