Global Greengrants Fund
Connecting grant monies with deserving local conservation groups…
"Small grants connect grassroots movements to marine conservation opportunities. This is the key, as local participation is essential for successful initiatives.” Stefan Gelcich, Greengrants Advisor and Marine Biologist, Chile
Grant Recipient 2009: Global Greengrants Fund
The Global Greengrants Fund connects those who can offer financial support—such as the Waitt Foundation—to local conservation groups in developing countries around the world wanting to make a difference. Global Greengrants believes coastal communities have a huge stake in the health and sustainability of their lands and resources, especially since their livelihoods depend on sustainable fish stocks, sustainable tourism opportunities and clean water sources.
Oceans Under Stress
The world’s oceans and coasts are under increasing stress from rapid coastal development, over-exploitation of natural resources, loss of habitat and land-based contamination affecting water quality and marine biodiversity. Climate change is also having a significant impact on the oceans, from melting sea ice resulting in higher sea levels to less biodiversity, disappearing coral reefs and more.
"In many coastal communities, local fishers no longer catch prized barracudas and red carp. Instead they must go after smaller and less appetizing kobos (a small coastal pelagic fish) because most of the time there is nothing else." ~ World Wildlife Fund
At the same time, people around the world are increasingly dependent on these threatened resources for food, tourism, shoreline protection and numerous other ecological services. According to the United Nations Environment Program, almost half of the world’s fisheries are fully depleted and around a fifth are over-fished. About ninety percent of large predatory fish biomass has been lost since pre-industrial times and approximately thirty-five percent of mangrove forests—vital ecobridges between terrestrial and marine environments—have been lost over the past two decades.
Greengrants Newsletter
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About Global Greengrants Fund
Supported by partners such as the Waitt Foundation, Global Greengrants has awarded more than 5,000 grants in 120 countries since 1993 to encourage effective resource management, proactive advocacy for healthy oceans and long-term education on the importance of protecting coastal and marine resources. Helping donors overcome the typical barriers to grassroots grant-making by identifying worthy organizations and by moving monies at a minimal cost, Global Greengrants funds local projects from $500 to $5,000 for projects such as coastal ecological habitat management, sustainable fisheries, environmental education, marine protected areas management, and toxic waste and water quality management.
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