Recently two Global Greengrants Fund grantees were profiled in The New York Times for their outstanding work protecting both people and planet.
Protecting Orangutans in the Leuser Ecosystem
The article, “Fleeting Glimpses of Indonesia’s Endangered Orangutans”, features Greengrants grantee, Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder of the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) in Sumatra. The OIC works to protect the extremely precious Leuser Ecosystem, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Greengrants has awarded two grants to the OIC, and all in all has given more than a dozen grants to various organizations working to the protect the Leuser Ecosystem from oil palm, illegal logging and other threats.
Click here to meet another grantee Greengrants has supported working to protect the Leuser Ecosystem, Goldman Environmental Prize winner, Rudi Putra.
Restoring Mangroves in the Niger Delta
The story, “The Nigerian Activist Trying to Sell Plants to the Oil Company That Destroyed Them”, features the work of the Executive Director of the Lokiaka Women Development Center, Martha Agbani, a grantee in Ogoniland, Nigeria. After Shell Oil contaminated the local waterways and ecosystems in the Niger Delta with spilled crude, the local women have been working to restore and replenish the mangrove forests that were devastated.
With $4,000 from Global Greengrants Fund, Martha is leading the local women to revitalize the ecosystem of Ogoniland. Right now, they are developing a nursery of mangrove seedlings and native fruit trees. Once the oil contamination is cleaned to an appropriate standard, the women will replant the destroyed mangrove forests, which will revitalize devastated fish populations and waterways that locals depend on.
Learn more about how Greengrants has supported work to restore the Niger Delta.