Each year Global Greengrants Fund makes over 700 grants to environmental activists around the world, helping to support grassroots initiatives to protect the planet and the rights of the people who call these natural places home. We wish we could share every single story with you. Here are three exciting projects we’ve supported recently.
Bolivia: Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Women
Large-scale mining has detrimental impacts on Bolivia’s environment, as well as on the locals who call the land home. Indigenous women are especially impacted, and struggle to have their voices of resistance heard. The National Confederation of Indigenous Women of Bolivia will use $5,000 to influence national and International decision-makers to rethink mining projects. The group will also conduct training and awareness workshops on individual and collective rights with local women as a way to help these women share their opinions and stand in opposition to the destructive projects.
Nepal: Addressing the After-Effects of Natural Disaster
On April 25, 2015, a major earthquake and nearly 300 aftershocks devastated 14 districts in this Himalayan country. In the aftermath, local communities have faced challenges related to food, shelter, landslides, and drinking water supply. A fast approaching rainy season will cause additional landslides and increases in disease due to lack of shelters and services. The Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources will use $13,925 to repair water systems in rural villages and ensure people have access to clean water.
Tanzania: Relieving Conflict Via Sustainable Livelihoods
Overuse of natural resources has caused rising tensions between two groups in Tanzania with different needs. The Wasambaa relies on local land for agriculture; the Maasai rely on it for herding. Each group requires large expanses, leading to conflict, overuse, and environmental degradation. The Women Environmental Group Kimeloc plan to diffuse the rising tensions between the communities. The group is using a $5,000 grant to introduce energy-efficient cook stoves to reduce deforestation, to conduct trainings in agroforestry and how to raise domestic livestock, and to reforest the area with native tree species.
We believe that solutions for lasting change come from people who face challenges to their environments and rights every day. So we support community-based projects that make our world safer, healthier, and more just. To read more about grants we’ve awarded and the groups and individuals who have received them, click here.
Photo Credit: Göran Höglund (Kartläsarn) / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0