| Montreal, 18/07/2000 – Sixteen community-based environmental projects across the continent have been awarded grants of up to US$25,000 each by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the Montreal-based home of the NAFTA environmental side accord.
This year's disbursement of the CEC's North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC), amounting to US$387,000, is in support of projects in two CEC priority areas: 1) Linking biodiversity conservation with trade in green goods and services, and 2) Pollutants and Health-improving public access to information, decision-making and environmental justice.
"It's very important for an international organization like the CEC to keep a hand in the work going on at the community level," says Janine Ferretti, Executive Director of the CEC. "It's the front line of the environmental movement and often where the real progress is made. We figure it is at least as helpful for us to see how our program goals can actually be achieved on the ground as it is for the local projects to have our support."
Some 400 proposals were received by the CEC seeking funds in this year's round of grants. "The competition for resources is very intense," says NAFEC coordinator Janice Astbury, "which means the quality of the few we are able to support is very high, but unfortunately so is the quality of many that we have to turn down. Our hope is to be able to apply some creativity in building a larger fund in the future," says Astbury.
NAFEC was established in October 1995 to support community-based projects that advance the goals and objectives of the CEC. To date it has issued 142 grants totaling US$5.4 million.
This years grant recipients are as follows (please consult the 2000 grants page for more details):
Linking Biodiversity Conservation with Green Goods and Services
New Mexico Wolf Tourism Project (US) Southwest Environmental Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA ($20,000)
Ecotourism Program in the Indigenous Community of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mich. (Mexico) Comunidad Indígena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Nvo. San Juan Parangaricutiro, Michoacán, México ($24,000)
North American Guide Exchange Project --Strengthening Communities Through Sustainable Tourism (Canada-Mexico-US) Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada ($25,000)
The Millennium Trek--A Gwich'in Journey to the Birthing Grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd (Canada-US) Porcupine Caribou Management Board, Lister, British Columbia, Canada ($18,000)
Realizing the Transition to a Conservation Based Approach to the Forests and Economy (Canada) Sierra Club of British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada ($25,000)
Community capacity-strengthening for sustainable forest management in the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua (Mexico) - Comision de Solidaridad y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (COSYDDHAC), Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México ($25,000)
Strengthening sustainable use and marketing of non-timber forest products in the Mexican humid tropics (Mexico) Methodus Consultora, S.C., Oaxaca, Oaxaca, México ($25,000)
Conservation and restoration of biodiversity in the cultivation of coffee and other organic products in Chiapas (Mexico) Federación Indígena Ecológica de Chiapas, Motozintla, Chiapas, México ($25,000)
North American cooperation for sustainable coffee: Beyond the niche market (Canada-Mexico-US) Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada ($25,000)
Pollutants and Health--Improving Public Access to Information, Decision-Making and Environmental Justice
Clean production project for the Great Lakes Basin communities (Canada-US) Union Saint-Laurent, Grands Lacs (Great Lakes United), Montréal, Québec, Canada ($25,000)
Building an Environmental Justice Network through Citizen Monitoring, Air Sampling and using Geographic Information Systems (US) Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), Chicago, Illinois, USA ($25,000)
PRTR (Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry): an exercise in community use (Mexico) Enlace Ecológico, A.C., Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico ($20,000)
Strengthening Community Level Use of PRTR (Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry) Data in North America (Canada-Mexico-US) Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP), Toronto, Ontario, Canada ($25,000)
A Virtual Forum for the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry (Mexico) Programa La Neta, S.C., México D.F., México ($25,000)
Strengthening the Farmworker Community's Capacity to Monitor Pesticide Risks and Forming Alliances for Alternative Solutions (US) Farmworker Health and Safety Institute, Glassboro, New Jersey, USA ($25,000)
Southeast Houston: Cleaner Communities for Better Health (US) Mothers for Clean Air, Houston, Texas, USA ($25,000)
The CEC was established to build cooperation among the NAFTA partners-Canada, Mexico and the United States-in addressing environmental issues from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on the environmental opportunities and challenges that arise in the context of free trade. |
