Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic share a commitment to advancing conservation, research, and exploration, and inspiring people to learn about, care for, and protect our world. In support of this commitment, the mission of the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) Fund is to support projects to understand and protect our world’s oceans, restore critical marine and coastal habitats, and foster environmental stewardship in the regions visited by the fleet, and beyond. The Fund supports inspirational, passionate project leaders who are committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world. National Geographic Society and Lindblad Expeditions are in search of innovative projects that strengthen community-based stewardship and conservation of coastal and riverine ecosystems.
These ecosystems support biodiversity and provide important services to the communities that rely on them, but are increasingly impacted by climate change, unsustainable fishing and agricultural practices, extreme weather, and various other stressors. The long term sustainability and health of these ecosystems requires the active participation and leadership of communities that live within them and near them in their stewardship. These communities are not only at the frontlines of protecting ecosystems, but also have important, in-depth, and localized traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of past and present climate and ecosystem change, and consequently, the capacity to determine resilience solutions that meet current and future ecological and community needs.
Projects supported by this RFP must be community-based stewardship initiatives (including but not limited to stewardship driven by Indigenous and descendant communities); they should be led by an individual with a strong connection to and/or an existing track record of work in the community(ies) where the project will take place, or by a member of the community themselves, and be designed in response to community needs. Projects can focus on a wide range of specific issues, including (but not limited to) local conservation and ecosystem restoration, climate change adaptation and resilience, or sustainable fishing/agriculture. The RFP will prioritize projects in National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions destinations, including the Arctic, Asia, Baja California, Costa Rica and Panama, Europe and the Mediterranean, Patagonia, the Peruvian Amazon, the Pacific Northwest, Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, the South Pacific, and the United Kingdom and Ireland. For more detailed information on targeted areas within these regions, please refer to the targeted areas document.
We are looking for applicants from a wide range of professional backgrounds and encourage you to design your project proposal around your expertise and passion; our model of funding is intended to drive innovation and invite fresh perspectives. For this reason, there are no minimum academic requirements – we only expect that you are passionate and knowledgeable about your project’s subject matter. This RFP is intended to support projects that are led by an individual with a strong connection to and/or an existing track record of work in the community where the project will take place (including a member of the community themselves). For more about what makes an Explorer, please refer to our website.
Competitive Proposals Should:
National Geographic Society will host three one-hour informational webinars (two in English, one in Spanish) dedicated to this Request for Proposals (RFP) on April 30 and May 12. During the webinars, we will share information about the RFP and answer questions from applicants. If you are interested in joining one of the webinars, you can sign up using the links below:
Candidates must submit an application through the National Geographic Society website. The RFP opens on April 8, 2026 and closes on June 1, 2026. We expect to announce awards in early December, 2026. When completing your application, please select “Science” as your project’s primary discipline in order to access the appropriate application template for this RFP. Projects with different primary disciplines will not be considered. If you have questions while completing your application, please refer to the FAQ document or the budget guidelines.
Please note: this form requires you to log into or create a National Geographic Society account.
Tagged as: conservation, wildlife
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