Seven non-profit environmental organisations will next??week receive grant funds totaling some $80,000, to initiate??or enhance community-based??projects, as the Environment Ministry continues its bid to foster environmental??stewardship.
Minister of the Environment, Dr. Denis Lowe, will present the funds, and address recipients at a ceremony for the Ministry’s Grant to Non-profit Organisations, slated to be held next Wednesday, May 5, at 10:00 a.m. at Harrison’s Cave, Welchman Hall, St. Thomas.
This year’s community recipients are as follows:?? The Future Centre Trust ??- for a project aimed at developing a certification body to foster a green economy;
Carib Invest – for an environmental project seeking to create a greater awareness among school children regarding environmental issues; Barbados Horticultural Society – for a Water Harvesting Pilot Project; the St. Joseph Parish Independence Committee – for a Community initiative utilising the Cane Lily and Khus Khus plants ??to highlight the importance of food security, sustainable living and?? the prevention of land degradation; and the Barbados National Trust for its ??Welchman Hall Gully Nature Programme.
The school-based recipients are: St. James Secondary School’s Environmental Club – project utilised aqua-ponics to provide a practical demonstration of ecological, sustainable and energy-efficient concepts and Jordan Hackett Kempo Karate School for a Recycling and Beautification project at Deighton Griffith Secondary.
According to Environmental Education Officer with the Ministry of the Environment, Donna King Brathwaite, the Environmental Division’s Grant to Non-Profit Organisations was established to assist community-based organisations with initiating or enhancing projects within their communities, which have an environmental theme.
"This initiative is based on the National Environmental Education Strategic Plan; a primary objective of which is to develop a new programming platform to deepen the Ministry’s relationship with the community legacy institutions….
The Grant has been identified as an efficient way to facilitate the uptake of community environmental stewardship initiatives across Barbados, in the communities where they are most needed," Mrs. King-Brathwaite explained.
The Environmental Education Committee, an offshoot of the Environmental Division, is responsible for the review of the proposals for accessing the Fund for Non-profit Organisations.
It comprises representatives from: the Environmental Unit (Secretariat, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, NULL, NULL, 0); the Coastal Zone Management Unit; the National Conservation Commission; the National Botanical Gardens; the Environmental Protection Department; the Natural Heritage Department; the Folkestone Marine Reserve and Museum; the Ministry of Education; the Government Information Service and the Energy Division.