In 1990 the Rainforest Information Centre established its Small Grants Fund and has since provided over $1,000,000 to hundreds of projects, often in circumstances or countries where organisations would have difficulty in obtaining funding from conventional sources. Funding for the Small Grants Program is now being generated largely through Planetfunder, which is growing the amount of funds available for projects. RIC uses these funds for their own projects and also to make grants to conservation partners. This continues their grant making program established in 1990.

Grants & criteria

The RIC disburses grants to conservation partners each month. Conservation partners eligible to receive grants are required to;

• Have projects consistent with RIC's mission
• Agree to meet the obligations to provide project updates
• Agree to complete stated objectives
• Agree to spend funds only in meeting stated objectives

Examples of recent grants awarded

In mid 2019, a small grant of $3000 US was awarded to a tiny Waorani community in the Ecuadorian Amazon called Ñoneno, to build a traditional house and infrastructure for visitors. The kind of visitors they plan to attract are biologists, ecologists, linguists and other scientists and students who can help them preserve their knowledge and pass it on to the next generations.

Income from the project will be funnelled into efforts to keep oil exploitation out of the territory, which sits in arguably the world's most biodiverse rainforest. Only two months after receiving the funds, they sent us photos of the two new houses built: a sleeping house and a communal house. RIC is committed to continuing to raise funds to support this community in their next stage plans, as they have no other source of funding. These are the frontline defenders of Ecuador's Amazon.