On 27th May, the EAAFP Foundation organized its first Small Grant Programme Reporting Workshop online. The Foundation launched its own Small Grant Programme last year in 2020 to support the efforts of the civil society organizations through providing a small grant to implement projects that aim to conserve migratory waterbirds and their habitats in the Republic of Korea. The 2020 Small Grant Programme was sponsored by the Korea South-East Power Co., Ltd. Yeongheung Power Division (KOEN) with a support from the Incheon Metropolitan City. In total, 8 Korean local NGOs received the small grant in October 2020 following the independent Proposal Evaluation Committee’s decisions [See the full project list (KOR)]. The implementation of the selected projects started in October 2020 and ended in May 2021.
The workshop was held to present the results of the small grant projects, and share the lesson learnt and challenges identified during the implementation. The Foundation presented the information of the upcoming 2021 EAAFP Foundation Small Grant Programme as part of the workshop Programme.
The 8 participating NGOs included; 1) Ganghwa Citizen Network, 2) Tidal flat Ecological Education Hub Moolseal, 3) Eco Edu Irang, 4) Siheung Getgol Social Cooperatives, 5) Green Union Incheon, 6) Incheon Birding Association, 7) KFEM Incheon, and 8) DMZ Ecology Research Institute.
In addition, the representative of the KOEN and Incheon Metropolitan City, and staff members of the EAAFP Secretariat and the Foundation attended the event as well.
Prior to the workshop, there was a congratulatory remark from Doug Watkins, who is the Chief Executive of the EAAFP Secretariat and the Chairperson of the EAAFP Foundation.
Also, the congratulatory speech from Mr. Do-Yeong Jeong, Director of Green Environment Department from KOEN and Ms. Gyeong-ji Park, from the Environment Bureau of Incheon Metropolitan City followed.
After all the remarks, the first result reporting was proceeded by Eco Edu Irang with the project title ‘Crane, Fly to Incheon’.
The second reporting was by the Tidal flat Ecological Education Hub Moolseal, with the project title ‘With Cranes – Crane Welcome Event and Citizen Monitoring’.
Next, the Ganghwa Citizen Network reported on their project ‘2020 Crane School’.
The fourth reporting was by the Green Union Incheon with the project title ‘Activities to Promote Public Awareness of Migratory Waterbirds in Baengnyeongdo Island – Ecological education for village residents and local youth living in Hwadong Wetland, a resting place for migratory waterbirds’.
The fifth reporting followed by the Incheon Birding Association with the project called ‘The Bird and Birdwatching Tour of Gyodong Island’.
Sixth reporting was by DMZ Ecological Research Institute, with the project title ‘Han-river & Imjin River Estuary Migratory Waterbird Monitoring’.
Seventh reporting was by Ms. Ok-hee Park from KFEM Incheon, with the project ‘Incheon Birdwatching Ecological Tour with Citizens’.
Lastly, the project manager of Siheung Getgol Social Cooperatives reported on their project named ‘Siheung Wetland Citizen Monitoring Activation’.
Mr. Minjong Jeon, Deputy Chief Executive of EAAFP Secretariat gave a closing remark encouraging the grantees to discuss the internal problems of projects to local governments.
The final report is due 6 June 2021 and it will be uploaded on the EAAFP Foundation website.
About EAAFP Foundation
The EAAFP Foundation was established in 2019 to contribute to providing the Partnership with a mechanism to support sustainable financing and expand its engagement with various types of organizations for the conservation of migratory waterbirds and habitats in EAA Flyway. The Foundation office is based in Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea. For more information, visit https://foundation.eaaflyway.net/
