Dateline: May 29, 2002                                                 News release

Ridge to Reef Watershed Project Announces Grant Fund for Community Watershed Projects

Community-based organizations in two of Jamaica’s most important watersheds can now benefit from a special $US 450,000 Grant Fund initiative financed through the Ridge to Reef Watershed Project (R2RW).  The fund was launched in honour of Earth Day, Monday, April 22^nd and will support community-based environmental projects in the Great River and Rio Grande watersheds.

To assist communities in the Great River area to develop proposals for Grant Fund consideration, a one-day proposal-writing workshop was held on Wednesday, April 23^rd at the Knockalva Agricultural School in Westmoreland. The workshop was the third in a series of community mobilization sessions that have encouraged communities to conduct audits of their own areas, to make their own “diagnosis” of the environmental problems that exist and to then “prescribe” solutions that can be developed into project proposals. Communities are currently working a number of ideas including: water harvesting projects; community clean-up initiatives; recycling projects; low cost sanitation solutions; and reforestation projects, as well as other activities.

On May 9^th, the project also began working with communities in the Rio Grande Watershed to identify their most important environmental problems and to start thinking of proposals for addressing local concerns.

A unique feature of the new R2RW Grant Fund is its flexible, two-tiered funding mechanism that will allow community-based groups to apply directly to R2RW for support. Applications can be made for projects of less than $US 15,000 (the first tier) or for larger activities budgeted between $15,000 and $100,000 (the second tier). 

In principle, awards will be granted to local “sustainable watershed management” projects that demonstrate good watershed stewardship that are also linked to sustainable livelihoods activities. Initiatives that encourage community compliance and enforcement of regulations related to watershed management are also important. Equally critical will be the ways in which the proposed projects will help to strengthen the management capacity of the groups involved in implementation.

R2RW is a five-year project of the Government of Jamaica’s National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Government of the United States through its Agency for International Development (USAID). The project seeks to strengthen the work of strategic partner agencies in both of the Great River and Rio Grande watershed areas, but ultimately intends to encourage the adoption of sustainable watershed management practices at the local, community level. The new Grant Fund will be a critical instrument for achieving this important project objective.

For more information on the Grant Fund and Ridge to Reef Watershed Project, please contact:

Mr. Mark Nolan,
Chief of Party Ridge to Reef Watershed Project
5 Oxford Park Road
Kingston 5
Phone: 754-7598
Email: mnolan@nepa.gov.jm

Picture caption: Community members from Bethel Town in the Great River watershed “diagnosing” their watershed problems in preparation for developing a Grant Fund proposal.

Picture caption: community leaders in the Rio Grande Watershed identify solutions for environmental problems