Environmental NGOs receive UNDP grants

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed on Monday one-year grant agreements with five Syrian non-governmental organisations to support the implementation of environmental projects. "The projects, worth over US $160,000, are designed to support the efforts of local people to conserve and restore the environment through generating sustainable livelihoods for local communities," Ali al-Za’tari, the UN Resident Coordinator in Syria, said during the signing ceremony in the capital, Damascus. "The programme is managed by a national coordinator and a steering committee that consists of members representing the government, the NGO sector, academia, the private sector and a number of experts," al-Za’tari added. The five NGOs receiving grants include Volunteers for Environment based in Deir Ezzor governorate, the Fishers Association in the Dalha district of Raqqa governorate, Al-Wafa for People with Special Needs in Sweida governorate, the Damascus Friends Association and the Fund for Integrated Rural Development of Syria (FIRDOS). The five projects are the first to be supported by the Global Environment Facility/Small Grants Programme - which Syria joined in 2004 - and administered by UNDP. The grant agreements were signed by al-Za’tari and the heads of the five NGOs. In Deir Ezzor, 421 km northeast of Damascus, the grant will support the establishment of an environmental awareness center on the Euphrates river bank using traditional architecture. It will consist of an environmental garden featuring indigenous and endangered plant species and will include an oxygen pumping unit to help increase oxygen concentration in the Euphrates. There will also be a demonstration site for solar energy, a waste recycling unit and a handicraft production unit. In Raqqa, 547 km northeast of Damascus, al-Dalha Lake – a unique ecological system and source of income for over 50 fishermen – suffers from illegal fishing practices and invasive plants. The grant will revive the ecosystem by seeding the lake with grass carp, silver carp and common carp. It will also train the fishermen and offer livelihood alternatives during the fishing ban period. In Sweida, 106 km south of the capital, bio-gas units will be established to treat animal wastes and develop alternative sources of energy. The process of treating farming wastes will produce organic fertilizer and bio-gas as an alternative source of energy. In Damascus, the grant will support a project on water-saving techniques using solar energy in an environmental garden in Dummar. "This project is a manifestation of a constructive collaboration and partnership between the government and the community," al-Za’tari said. "The Damascus Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DAWSSA) contributed 55 percent of the project cost." DAWSSA and Damascus Friends Association will establish an environmental garden where drought resistant plants will be introduced along with water saving techniques that works on the solar energy. Project activities also include awareness campaigns for students, public and all other groups in water demand management tools and techniques including other local NGOs. With FIRDOS, the grant will support the development of the national strategy for sustainable development in cooperation the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment, and the UN Environment Programme.