Green Balkans Federation of Nature Conservation NGOs aims to preserve, study, and restore biodiversity throughout Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula as a whole. The goal of our organization is to raise environmental and nature conservation awareness among community members by involving citizens in voluntary activities, and by creating an effective system of citizen control for preserving Bulgarian and International Nature Protection Legislation.

Since our registration in 1990, Green Balkans has established branches, working groups, and representatives in 25 cities and towns throughout Bulgaria. With over 1,500 members and more than 60 active volunteers, Green Balkans continues to mobilize public participation to confront the challenges of nature conservation. To date, over 35 conservation, education, and other varied projects and numerous actions have been successfully implemented. Prime activities are as follows:

- Conservation and restoration of wetlands;
- Conservation and restoration of threatened species and habitats;
- Center for rare and threatened species was established;
- Expansion of the network of protected areas;
- Nature conservation legislation;
- Sustainable development;
- Educational programmes and conservation working holidays.

Green Balkans has offered support to NGOs throughout Bulgaria by working directly with communities to help them realize the meaning of civil society, the usefulness of the civic organizations, and to motivate people to organize their own civic organizations. With the training assistance of Green Balkans, local communities have come to know the wealth of biodiversity throughout the region and have formed 5 new NGOs in the villages. Green Balkans has encouraged information exchange and trained individuals and communities in project design and planning, proposal preparation, locating funding opportunities, risk assessment, and in working collaboratively with local governments and businesses. The bulk of training has been held at local NGO centers, wherein individuals from over 25 NGOs were trained.

ADDITIONAL APPLICATION CRITERIA FOR BULGARIAN SUBMISSIONS TO THE VIRTUAL FOUNDATION

We here at Green Balkans are excited that you and your community are pursuing The Virtual Foundation as an option for supporting your project! As a Virtual Foundation Consortium Member, we're here to work with you and to support you and your ideas throughout the process. So that we can better support you, Green Balkans has established the following additional application criteria: 1. All submissions to Green Balkans must either be typed or word-processed.

2. Virtual Foundation proposals will be reviewed three times yearly, in January, May, and October of each year. All proposals will go through an initial and final review, with an optional consultation period available to applicants between the two reviews. All applications must undergo the initial review and must be received by 5:00 p.m. January 15th, May 15th, and October 15th. Should the 15th fall on a weekend, your application must be received by 5:00 p.m. on the following business day. Two weeks later, after your initial application has been reviewed, 1-hour consultations will be offered, by appointment, to applicants who would like to incorporate Green Balkans' feedback on their proposals prior to final review. Final decisions on projects that will be submitted to the Virtual Foundation to place on the web page will be made approximately two weeks after the final review date. You will be notified immediately of Green Balkans' decision by letter.

3. Specific timelines for initial review, consultation, and final review are listed below.
Initial Review: January 15, May 15, October 15
Consultations Offered: February 1-7, June 1-7, November 1-7
Final Review: February 21; June 21; November 21

4. Initial and final submissions must be in Bulgarian. After Green Balkans accepts a proposal in the final review stage, community groups must have their proposals translated into English at their own expense.

5. Electronic submissions are both accepted and encouraged.

Green Balkans looks forward to working with you and your communities! Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or comments.