Guest guest Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Saturday September 16, 2006 Wild Asia seed grants When Jaime Castillo Garcia *(above)* of Colombia arrived in Malaysia to do his masters programme at Universiti Malaya, he applied for grants to fund his research. " I sent out 23 letters to different organisations but it was difficult, " says Garcia who is doing his Masters in Science. But after surfing the Internet, he stumbled on Wild Asia's Seed Grant programme. WA's seed grants are basically small amounts of money (from RM2,000-RM4,000) given to people who want to be involved in conservation, either for research or to run projects, explains WA's director Dr Reza Azmi. " It's for people who find it difficult to source for grants, " says Reza who introduced the programme in 2005. " These grants complement funding from bigger organisations like WWF. They are easy to apply for with no complicated forms to fill.'' So far, WA has given out grants to four projects. Funds were given to a community in Klias Peninsula in Sabah to buy natural history guide books. The community is running nature trails for tourists and needed reference material to enhance their knowledge. A University of Rhode Island researcher working on an Asian Elephant conservation project in Taman Negara also received WA's grant to fund her research into the movement of translocated elephants. One of the three researchers of the Lorisidae Primate Research Group, Universiti Malaya, Garcia's studying the nocturnal slow loris. Based in Sg Bolok, near Lanchang, Pahang, Garcia, with the help of local guides, catches slow loris, collars them and then releases them back into the wild. " I need the grant for guide fees, data collection and transport expenses, " says Garcia, who also receives assistance from WWF. This year's Wild Ride event managed to raise about RM6,000, and Garcia is the latest recipient of the grant. Currently, the grant is sourced from leftover funds from WildAsia and sales of merchandise like WildAsia T-shirts. " But we're looking at a long-term plan. Perhaps we'll use the grant as a channel for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding, " says Reza. – *By LEONG SIOK HUI* *For more information on Wild Asia and its Seed Grants, visit www.wildasia.net, e-mail: info or call (03) 6201 2150.* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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