PPI 7: A Dynamic Start, and the Results Are In!

This opening to the seventh phase of the Small-Scale Initiatives Programme (Programme de Petites Initiatives, 2025–2030) has certainly been a full one: selection committees, a steering committee, news from the field… The past few months have been intense, so here’s an overview of everything that’s happened.

New partners: 733 applications, 13 projects selected

The “New Partners 1 PPI 7” call for projects was launched in November 2025. Aimed at organizations active in biodiversity conservation that had never received PPI funding before, it generated remarkable enthusiasm: 733 proposals had been received by the closing date of 18 December 2025. That figure alone speaks to the vitality of an African civil society deeply committed to biodiversity.

19 applications were shortlisted by the team and invited to submit a full proposal. Over a period of roughly three months, the PPI’s organizational development officers (CDOs) went out to meet the shortlisted CSOs and support them in putting their proposals together. This is valuable fieldwork: it builds genuine relationships with these organizations and gives them concrete points of reference for shaping a project — skills they can draw on well beyond the PPI, to respond to other funding calls. The completed proposals were then submitted to the selection committee in early June, with each project assessed by three reviewers. The selection committee met on 18 June 2026 in Paris, at the Société Géologique de France, to deliberate.

For a full day, conservation experts and long-standing PPI partners (Membres CS NP 2026) examined each project in detail — hippos in The Gambia, pangolins in Angola, chimpanzees in Guinea and Liberia, red-footed falcons in Angola, scavenging vultures in Rwanda, community-based management of marine resources in Ghana… the diversity of the issues at stake was matched only by the richness of the discussions.

After deliberations, 13 projects were selected across several countries in West and Central Africa, for a total envelope of €390,000.

FADO 1: strengthening organizations from within

Earlier in the year, the PPI held the selection committee for the first FADO (Organizational Development Support Fund) of phase 7. The FADO is one of the PPI’s most distinctive tools: it aims to lastingly improve the organizational strength of CSOs by supporting actions that address concrete challenges identified through a diagnostic carried out beforehand by the teams themselves.

The call was open to a restricted list of 45 long-standing partners and received 30 proposals, 18 of which were shortlisted and reviewed. Here too, the CDOs played a key role upstream, accompanying the organizations through the organizational diagnostic and the framing of their requests.

After two online selection committee meetings, bringing together 27 experts in biodiversity conservation and organizational development along with long-standing PPI partners (Membres CS FADO 2026), 14 projects were ultimately selected, representing 9 countries — from Cameroon to the DRC, from Senegal to Cape Verde — for a total of €259,104. The needs being supported are concrete and varied: acquiring vehicles to reach remote areas, strengthening internal governance, consolidating financial management systems, developing communication skills… Solid foundations for organizations whose impact on the ground also depends on their long-term resilience.

Steering committee: setting course for phase 7

The PPI also held its start-of-phase steering committee with all of its financial partners present. On the agenda: a review of phase 6, lessons learned, and prospects for the years ahead.

A few figures set the tone: 85% of the projects supported during phase 6 were rated good or excellent, 4 PPI 7 calls for projects have already been launched, and 94% of potential new partners have been visited by the organizational development officers. An encouraging momentum for a phase that, through to 2030, aims to keep growing conservation led by and for African citizens.

The PPI 7 machine is well and truly up and running. See you very soon to discover the selected projects!