The Fund is currently reviewing the 500 applications it received between 1 November 2012 and 28 February 2013. Within a few weeks the Fund will announce the results of its review, and distribute $500,000 to selected grant applicants. In total, our 500 grant applicants are requesting $8m. Obviously, with $500,000 we will not be able to support every application.

We thought our grant applicants might like to see a few facts related to the applications currently under review by our advisory board.

• Nearly $8m was requested by 500 grant applicants.
• We received nearly 200 applications requesting more than $3.18m for mammal projects
• More than 100 applications for bird projects were submitted and requested more than $1.7m
• 60 applicants for reptile projects requested nearly $1m
• 60 applicants for plant project requested nearly $1m
• Almost 30 applications for fish projects requested more than $500k
• Almost 50 applications for invertebrates, amphibians, and fungi requested nearly $600k
• 120 applications focused attention on Critically Endangered species
• 160 applications focused attention on Endangered species
• 57 applications focused on Data Deficient or species not evaluated by the Red List
• Projects from more than 100 different countries were submitted for consideration

As you can see, far more money has been requested than we have money give away. All the applications will go through a rigorous review by our board of advisors. We wish we could support all the projects, but until we find the mystical (or Extinct) money tree, we will make difficult decisions about which species and projects to support. We wish all of you continued success in your endeavours to protect the planet’s most endangered species.