Each year Global Greengrants Fund makes over 800 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. Here are three exciting projects we’ve supported this month.
Argentina: Oil and Gas Resistance
The Vaca Muerta shale formation in Argentina is home to the largest hydrocarbon source outside of North America. Since the area was discovered in 2010, there has been an excess of national and international interest to extract oil and gas from the area. The social and environmental impacts of extraction are many, including soil and water contamination, and land grabs from the local people, threatening the lives and wellbeing of indigenous communities in the region. Using $5000 from Global Greengrants Fund, Taller Ecologista will resist the exploitation of oil and gas in the region by mapping data on the potential impacts of extraction and making the information available to the public.
Micronesia: Sustainable Fishing Practices
The majority of the 34,000 residents who call Pohnpei, Micronesia home rely on fishing for their income and livelihoods. Up to 85% of the fishing activity is nighttime spearfishing, a practice that depletes fish populations as most fish are caught before they have fully matured. Menin Katengesed, a local organization that helps fishermen build sustainable fisheries, will use $5000 to establish the “PMK Market”. The market will protect reefs by only buying and selling sustainably caught (hand-lined) seafood. This will result in more reliable incomes for the fisherman as they’ll be able to charge high prices for the daily catch, improving overall wellbeing on the island.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Women for the Forest
Kwango, a rural district in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is an area suffering from increased deforestation, soil infertility, and poverty as a direct result of natural resource exploitation and climate change. All families in the area, and especially women who are dependent on natural resources, are the most affected. The Pasi Andre Foundation for the Environment will use $3000 to host a workshop on climate change for thirty women and coordinate tree planting activities throughout the region, helping improve understanding of the situation, develop local solutions to reforest the area, and address the issues at hand.
We believe solutions to environmental harm and social injustice come from people whose lives are most impacted. Every day, our global network of people on the frontlines and donors comes together to support communities to protect their ways of life and our planet. Because when local people have a say in the health of their food, water, and resources, they are forces for change.
Photo: Kristopher Radder / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0