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)