The Congo Basin is a globally important region for forest and biodiversity conservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) works closely with national governments, U.S. agencies, and a range of other partners to ensure a strategic, results-based approach to wildlife conservation in the basin. In collaboration with U.S. Agency of International DevelopmentÂ’s (USAID) Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), the USFWS is providing this funding opportunity to improve protected area management, reduce threats to key wildlife populations, and develop the requisite individual and institutional conservation capacity to undertake long-term conservation programs. It is anticipated that grant funding through the USFWS Multinational Species Conservation Funds will continue to provide support on a competitive basis to other Congo Basin countries and corresponding landscapes, as well as other African countries not covered in the priorities outlined below. The FY 2014 call for applications will be limited to the following geographic and thematic areas below. USFWS personnel will determine the appropriate geographic and thematic area for each proposal, and may consider proposals submitted to other USFWS grants programs.