Ramsar Small Grants Fund Achievements

Achievements of the Ramsar Small Grants Fund: Results and Impacts

See the Impact Map

Funded Projects, 2010: What Kinds of Projects Get Support?

CAMBODIA - Strengthening and expanding the Ramsar Sites network

Due to limited human capacity and financial resources, Cambodia has not been able to effectively manage existing Ramsar Sites and designate more sites. The project aims at strengthening management initiatives in the existing sites and designating a new Ramsar Site. The main activities include conducting management capacity needs assessments and organising training courses for management teams in at least two existing Ramsar Sites, developing a monitoring protocol for at least one Ramsar Site, organising internal meetings within the Ministry of Environment, Cabinet of the Council of Ministers to secure the endorsement of the designation of Preak Toal as a Ramsar Site.

GUINEA BISSAU - Wise use of the Ramsar Site “Lagoa de Cufada” Toward better management through poverty reduction and awareness

The Nature Park Lagoa de Cufada is the sole Ramsar Site in Guinea-Bissau. The human and technical resources to address increasing pressures on this vast site (fishing, poaching, deforestation, agriculture…) are scarce. This project aims at (1) developing a monitoring plan and training for the staff of the nature park, (2) defining sustainable fishing rules in collaboration with the fisherfolk, (3) reducing poverty by developing ecotourism and teaching bird watching, and monitoring of fishermen and park guards, (4) raising awareness of communities living in the area through the training of school teachers and journalists.

NEPAL - Community-based wetland conservation in Mai Pokhari

The Mai Pokhari Ramsar Site, one of the prime religio-cultural sites of eastern Nepal, attracts thousands of pilgrims every year. Due to lack of knowledge and awareness about the value of wetlands, the absence of a management plan, and conflicts arising from multiple tenure systems, the site faces numerous threats such as the introduction of invasive species, encroachment into forest land, unplanned construction and settlement growth along the wetland trails. The project aims to maintain this natural wetland and its services using community-based wetland management, through strengthening the existing conservation units and building capacity of local communities in conservation. A management plan will be developed based on ecological surveys.

Ramsar Secretariat’s visits to SGF projects offer an overview on the last achieved projects.

Ramsar Secretariat’s visits to SGF projects in:

• Bangladesh, Jan 2010. Report of the visit [PDF]. News item.
• Burkina Faso, Nov 2009. Report of the visit [PDF]. News item.
• Uzbekistan, Nov 2010. Report of the visit [PDF].

Allocations Reports

The Allocations Reports contain one-paragraph descriptions of each of the projects approved for each year's funding cycle.

News items on completed SGF projects

[Note: these are occasional SGF news items as they have come to hand, not a thorough survey of completed projects.]