Indonesian NGOs get grants for environmental projects

Indonesian NGOs get grants for environmental projects

JAKARTA (JP): Six community-based non-governmental
organizations in Indonesia have received $200,000 in grants to
help further their promotion of public participation in
preserving the environment.

The grants are part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)'s
small grant program financed jointly by the United Nations
Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program and
the World Bank.

The donor agencies are currently considering nine other NGOs
for a further $100,000, GEF Technical Coordinator Peter Hazlewood
said yesterday.

Indonesia has been selected for the GEF's pilot project on
community-based solutions to global environmental problems,
Hazlewood said in opening a GEF workshop for Asian and European
participants.

Dana Mitra Lingkungan (DML), in English the Friends of the
Environment Fund, has been appointed to coordinated the use of
the money, GEF Small-Grants National Coordinator S. Juliani said.

Juliani said among the six first recipients are Yayasan
Mandiri in Cianjur, West Java, which will receive Rp 85 million
to fund a soil conservation and energy farm.

Yayasan Bina Sains Hayati in Togian, Central Sulawesi, will
use its Rp 96 million grant for a biodiversity research project
and a local community development program.

Other recipients are the Sekretariat Pengembangan Kawasan
Mentawai in the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra (Rp 59 million);
the Biological Science Club in Mount Halimun, West Java, with Rp
85 million for an ethno-botany study and community development;
Lembaga Alam Tropika Indonesia in Ujung Kulon, West Java, with Rp
57 million for biodiversity conservation and Pusat Latihan
Wiraswasta Tani in Dili, East Timor, with Rp 40 million for an
agriculture training center.

These six were selected from 43 applicants by a selection
committee appointed by the government, Juliani said.

At the workshop yesterday there were experts from India,
Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Poland, Turkey and Indonesia.

The workshop, organized by UNDP and DML, reviewed some of the
issues related to the implementation of the GEF programs. (prs)