This week, the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the open application period for the 2024 Urban and Community Conservation (UAC) grant initiative. The grants are open to any conservation district or tribe within the US and the territories NACD serves.
Since 2016, NACD has led the efforts of this successful grant program in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to help conservation districts build technical capacity within nontraditional agricultural systems.
Through the partnership, NACD has awarded over $7.75 million to 182 conservation districts and tribes in 37 states and Puerto Rico. As part of an ongoing effort to build capacity in the community-oriented agricultural space, NACD started offering UAC planning grants for up to $10,000 in 2022.
The planning grants will allow organizations that are new to urban or community agriculture to begin early-stage development of a program to provide conservation technical assistance. For example, funds may be used for workshops to conduct needs assessments with local urban farmers or to develop partnerships for their planned program.
NACD will continue to offer planning grants, as well as the traditional implementation grants, which are more focused on the provision of technical assistance. The maximum budget for the implementation grants is $60,000 this fiscal year.
Both the UAC planning and implementation grants will enable organizations and their partners to address multiple resource concerns while supporting underrepresented clients and addressing important themes like local food security.
More information about the program, including past grantees and the application process for 2024, is available on NACD’s Urban and Community Conservation webpage.