The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation is launching a new initiative that will invest up to $5 million in support of rigorous, place-based, and inclusive Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) projects in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The objective of the initiative is to deploy rigorous, place-based NCS projects in the PNW to accelerate climate change mitigation, while also providing biodiversity and human well-being co-benefits. The foundation is particularly interested in projects that are community-driven and done in partnership through collaborations between Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), non-profit organizations, academic groups, and independent research labs or professional societies.

NCS pathways are deliberate human actions that protect, restore, and improve management of ecosystems to mitigate climate change. Some examples of some of the more well-established natural climate solution (NCS) pathways include avoided forest conversion, forest plantation management, coastal wetland restoration, freshwater wetland restoration, grassland restoration, trees in agricultural lands, and kelp management and restoration. (See RFP site for more details.) Projects up to 3 years in duration will be considered. The project period should be appropriate for the proposed work.